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A wife who celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary died just two days after marking the occasion with her husband.

Pat Cornelius passed away aged 83 at a nursing home in Cardiff on October 22, after celebrating the milestone with husband Adrian on October 20.

The couple first met as children, having attended Caerphilly Boys Grammar School and Caerphilly Girls Grammar School respectively.

Following on from Adrian’s studies at Swansea and Cardiff Universities, the couple moved to the Midlands, where Adrian taught in Nottingham, Staffordshire and Worcestershire.

Pat worked at Boots the Chemist in Cardiff, before moving to the Boots HQ store in Nottingham in October 1962 to specialise in beauty products.

The couple tied the knot on October 20, 1962 and later returned to Wales in 1976 when Adrian was appointed deputy head at Rumney High School in Cardiff.

After five years there, Adrian was appointed headteacher at St Ilan Comprehensive – a role he would stay in until his retirement in 1999. The school closed in 2007, with the site now occupied by Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni’s Y Gwyndy campus.

They went on to become active members with Rotary International and both served as Presidents of Caerphilly Rotary Club – with Adrian becoming Rotary Governor for South Wales in 2002/03.

This role gave the couple opportunities to represent Wales at Rotary conferences and conventions across the globe, including the USA, Australia and all over Europe.

In his younger years, Adrian was a keen rugby player and played for Caerphilly, Pontypridd, Nottingham, Ilkestone and Newcastle, among others.

He also represented the University of Wales XV, as well as the Three Counties XV, which is made up of players from Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire.

Over the past three years, Pat had been living in a nursing home in Cardiff due to ill health, receiving regular visits from family and daily visits from Adrian.

Before going into the home, Pat lived with Adrian in Hendredenny.

Together, the couple had two children – Sarah, who was born in Nottingham, and David, who was born in Stoke-on-Trent – but both were pupils at St Cenydd Comprehensive.

Sarah works as a consultant with government and military organisations, while David, who worked as a police officer for 30 years with both South Wales Police and Gwent Police, currently works for a government agency.