“PEOPLE keep saying perhaps Dad was calling for her,” said Suzanne Barnes after her parents, Ronald and Doreen Lurcuck died within three weeks of each other.

The couple, who originally lived in Highworth and would have celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary next week, had both been residents at Park View Nursing Home in Blunsdon towards the end of their lives.

Ronald died aged 82 on July 5 after a long battle with his health. Doreen, 80, then passed away on July 28, while Suzanne and her husband were on holiday in St Lucia in the Caribbean.

Suzanne, 55, from Freshbrook, said: “It’s just cutting me up. Dad passed away a week before we went on holiday. He hadn’t been well for a long, long time.

“He had a stroke and he had pneumonia three times and sepsis four times.

“In February he went into Park View.

“Mum had been living there since last October because she had a brain haemorrhage.

“They were so in love. We tried to make sure dad visited mum as much as he could before he moved into the care home. They were so happy when they were together again and could see each other every day.

“They were just lovely, lovely people. I’ll miss everything about them.”

The couple will now have a joint funeral, and be taken to the service in a horse-drawn carriage.

Suzanne said: “Dad’s funeral was supposed to be on Monday, but when mum died as well I postponed it.

“We’ll be having a joint funeral because I know that’s what they would have wanted.

“Mum always loved horses and really wanted to learn how to ride them but from when she was young she had the shakes which meant she wasn’t allowed to learn.

“Whenever we went for walks through fields and she saw horses she would always go up to them and talk to them and stroke them.

“Having a horse-drawn carriage would be just what they wanted.”

Suzanne said the care the couple had received at Park View during their final months was exemplary, and she was grateful for all the support the staff had given them.

She said: “They were just amazing. I want to say thank you so much for everything they did.”

Ronald worked for 35 years making record players at Garrads in Newcastle Street and Doreen visited older people in their homes to help them with cleaning and other odd jobs.

Ronald and Doreen leave behind Suzanne and her sister Julie Dunn, eight grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

A joint funeral will take place at Kingsdown Crematorium on Tuesday from 3pm.

Family flowers only. Donations appreciated to Park View Resident’s Allowance care of Co-operative Funeralcare.