A respected and popular member of The Northern Echo staff has died after a lengthy illness.

Valerie Morley, from Darlington, died on October 23 of a brain tumour.

Colleagues in the special features department, of which she was deputy editor, described her as “irreplaceable”.

Val joined the Evening Despatch, Darlington, in 1965 as the editor’s personal assistant and served under a number of editors before joining the special features department of The Northern Echo in 1988.

She was especially knowledgeable about property matters and was highly respected among senior estate agents.

Neil Richardson, special features editor, said: “Val was an irreplaceable member of the department and will be sorely missed.”

Editor Peter Barron said: “She was a perfectionist in her work – a complete professional.”

And Newsquest North-East managing director, David Kelly, described Val as “very special”.

She leaves a husband, Howard, and daughter, Emma. The funeral took place on October 28 at St Andrew’s Church, inHaughton, followed by interment. Her family requested that donations in lieu of flowers be made towards cancer research.

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