Penarth widow overwhelmed by response to husband's death

Stuart Munro died aged 60 on January 13 following a short battle with bowel cancer, and his wife Gill Munro said she has been overwhelmed with the community response to his passing.

Mr Munro, an extremely popular businessman and rugby fanatic who had lived in Penarth since moving from Scotland as a child, became unwell in February last year – and waited for months before he finally received a diagnosis of bowel cancer in June.

As well as his wife, Mr Munro leaves behind daughters Ellie and Olivia, step-daughters Rachel and Jessica, grandchildren Ella and Harry, and a lot of friends across the town’s rugby community and beyond.

He spent his life surrounded by family and friends he adored in a town he always considered his home, Mrs Munro said, and often enjoyed trips across the world where he’d take in plenty of rugby.

Following his diagnosis and lack of response to chemotherapy, Mrs Munro said her husband deteriorated quickly. Such has been the pressure on the NHS and Marie Curie Hospice in recent months, that much of Mr Munro’s care was done at home by his wife.

On the day of his funeral on January 26, only a handful of people were able to attend the service at Cardiff and Glamorgan Crematorium due to Covid regulations – but more than 400 people lined the streets – socially distanced – in what Mrs Munro described as a “completely overwhelming” mark of respect.

Reflecting on the last few months, Mrs Munro said: “We decided he’d be better at home rather than at the hospice. He went a couple of times for respite but when cases worsened, we decided he’d be better off here, rather than being somewhere we couldn’t visit.

“It’s been difficult and wasn’t something any of us wanted to go through [Mr Munro being at home rather than in hospice care], but looking back I don’t think I’d have had it any other way.

“It felt like it was meant to be [when he passed away] – and he was meant to have Christmas with us.

“We enjoyed celebrating his 60th just before Christmas, when some of the boys visited in the garden to have a beer with him.

Stuart Munro and his friends from Penarth's rugby community

“It was best for him not to be in the hospice with the risk of Covid. Marie Curie has been incredible too, they’ve supported us all the way through.

“In some ways it was actually rather nice to be alone as a family with Stuart in his final days, so coronavirus helped us in that sense.

“Since he died though, the loneliness has been very tough. Not being able to have a hug when you’re grieving is the strangest thing. It’s something I really miss.

“But I know what Stuart would say; ‘It is what it is – let’s be strong’.”

Mrs Munro described her husband as the most loving and kind man you could ever meet.

“We came into each other’s lives 15 years ago, and he looked after my girls like they were his own,” she added.

“That was his main worry when he found out his cancer was terminal – just thinking about others. How could he make sure we were ready to live without him? That’s the type of man he was. He was scared, but he tried to put it to the back of his mind for his girls.

“He always had a solution for them, and he often did for others.

“He always tried to help, and he would have absolutely loved that all those people stood out there for him. I can’t thank everyone enough for what they did.”

For his 60th birthday Mr Munro raised more than £8,000 for Marie Curie.

Donations in his memory can be given at www.JustGiving.com/campaign/mariecuriehospicecardiff.