Ceremony held to celebrate the lives of former Bridlington deputy mayor and mayoress Kathy and Laurie Prince

A former deputy mayor and deputy mayoress were recently interred at a Bridlington ceremony following a Celebration of Life service.
Former deputy mayor and mayoress Kathy and Laurie Prince.Former deputy mayor and mayoress Kathy and Laurie Prince.
Former deputy mayor and mayoress Kathy and Laurie Prince.

Kathy and Laurie Prince spent more than 60 years serving the Bridlington community.

In the war years, before moving to Bridlington, Kathy worked in the comptometer department of a Scunthorpe steelworks.

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Here she met Laurie who was in a reserved occupation in the engineering department.

They fell in love, married, and in 1950 moved to Bridlington, buying the newsagency opposite the Spa.

They worked long hours in the newsagency serving visitors to the Spa, until retiring in 1979. Then, bored after a year of retirement, they bought Britton’s Jewellers in Bridge Street, and ran that for 10 years.

Their recreation was dancing together at the Spa.

Laurie was a table tennis champion and Kathy was a talented musician, who had entertained in the forces canteens.

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In later years, Kathy played her keyboard at local nursing homes in return for donations to charity, while Laurie was her “roadie”.

Despite long hours in business they were committee members of the Bridlington League of Hospital Friends for 50+ years, helping raise funds for new equipment.

The collection at the service was donated to further the work of the friends group.

In the 1970s, having been an active member for many years, Kathy became president of the Bridlington branch of Soroptimist International, a world-wide volunteer service organization for business and professional women, working to improve the lives of women and girls locally, and throughout the world. Laurie was a member of the Rotary Club.

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Also in the 1970s, Laurie was elected Independent local Councillor for Bridlington. When he became deputy mayor, Kathy became deputy mayoress.

Although their daughters moved south, even in their 80s and 90s, Kathy and Laurie refused to leave their rental property business in Bridlington. They died six years apart, in their 90s.

A family spokesperson said: “Family and friends exchanged happy memories over a wonderful buffet at the Southside Restaurant and Bar, which Kathy and Laurie owned for about 50 years.

“They would have been so proud to see the cafe transformed by its new management. There was no other place they would rather have held the celebration.”