A LOVING York husband told today how his wife died after collapsing at a pool bar during a holiday in the Canary Islands.

Ian Till, from Holgate, said it was a "privilege" to be married to Caroline for 40 years and called on other couples to "cherish" each other every day.

"You never know when something like this can happen," he said.

Caroline, 61, was ordering a sandwich at their hotel's pool bar in Lanzarote when she suffered a massive brain haemorrhage without warning. She died within 24 hours in a hospital in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.

Caroline, a committed Christian and worshipper at St Paul's Church, Holgate, was a talented potter and involved in a number of community projects.

In the summer of 1999, she helped to organise a major art project in which tiny self-portraits of almost 200 children were preserved for posterity on a wall in West Bank Park. The youngsters used sharp-pointed instruments to draw cartoon-like faces on the tiles during a summer fair.

Caroline was a keen supporter of the Northern Potters network, a former governor of St Paul's Nursery School, and she also chaired York Women's Christian Association, which provided accommodation for young people in Clifton before its closure.

Ian, a retired accountant, said he fell in love with Caroline in 1963 after answering an advert for a flat owned by her brother in Fulham, West London.

They were married a year later and moved to York more than 30 years ago.

Caroline was originally born in Swaziland, South Africa, and resettled in Sussex, England, with her great aunt in 1952.

"This experience has taught me that when you are married to someone, you really need to cherish them every day," Ian said.

"Caroline lived for other people and blessed so many lives. She was a rock for me.

"Her faith was so important to her, it informed her life."

Caroline's close friend, Heather Mook, 55, from Acomb, said: "Caroline enriched so many peoples' lives and always had time for everyone. She was the sister I always wanted."

Caroline leaves two sons, Rodger and Rupert, three grandchildren, Sam, Megan and Robbie and her brothers, Tony and Norman.

A funeral service will take place at St Paul's Church, Holgate, at 12.45pm, next Friday.

Updated: 10:50 Friday, February 18, 2005