A LOVING husband has vowed to tend a special garden in memory of his wife who devoted her life to caring for adults with learning disabilities.

Hughie Docherty lost his beloved Eunice only weeks after she was diagnosed with cancer last May.

The much loved gran worked for supported living service Richmond Fellowship in Lyle Street and was care manager there for 15 years.

Her colleagues joined together with her family to create the garden in the facility Lyle Street, which is home to a number of adults who live independently with support from the Richmond Fellowship.

At the launch there was a huge turnout of family, friends and colleagues who all paid an emotional tribute to Eunice.

Devastated Hughie, 65, a retired taxi driver, of Irwin Street, Greenock, said: “I was so proud when her friends at the Richmond Fellowship said that they wanted to do this.

“Lyle Street meant such a lot to her.

“She was such a caring person.

“We also raised money for the garden and I will come here and look after it. It gives me somewhere to go to remember her. It is a lovely place. But it is for the people who live in Lyle Street – they meant such a lot to Eunice and they are going to help me take care of it as well.”

Hughie opened the garden with his two sons Hughie and Alan and daughter-in-laws Donna and Lynn Marie.

He says the whole family, including grandchildren Lucy, 19, Ryan, 15, Ross, 10, Abby, six, and Sophie, four, have all helped him since her death.

Eunice had started to feel unwell not long after the couple, who were married for 45 years, had returned from their favourite holiday destination Cyprus.

They were left devastated when she was told that she had cancer in the lungs which had spread to her liver.

Eunice died 12 weeks later in Ardgowan Hospice on May 19 last year, aged 63.

Richmond Fellowship manager and close colleague Alex Paterson, inset, said: “I worked with Eunice for 15 years and she went above and beyond to care for the people here.

“It is lovely to see so many people turn out for the opening of the garden.

“This garden is a lovely way for us all to remember her.”

The Richmond Fellowship donated £3,000 to create the garden, with Hughie and his family donating the rest.

Richmond area manager Linsay Gallacher said: “Eunice was a such a caring person and it came as a great shock to us all. She is missed so much.

“We are like a big family and Lyle Street is a very special place.”