The champagne life of city toy shop owner Lily.
Byline: By LIZ HAZELTON liz.hazelton@mrn.co.ukA COVENTRY woman famous for running a popular city centre toy shop for three decades has died at the age of 103.
Lily Tribe was one of the city's oldest residents, but her love of life - and penchant for luxury cars - kept her in the limelight well into old age.
Lily was born on September 19, 1901, and grew up in Stoke, Coventry, with brothers Arthur and Reginald and sister Marjorie.
When war broke out in 1914, she went to work as a typist and never looked back, eventually running pram and toy shop Saxess Chairs, in Fleet Street, city centre, and another at Clay Lane, Stoke.
Lily married engineer Reginald Watson Tribe in 1932 and the pair shared a love of cars, travel and the finer things in life.
They visited places all round the world and were returning from Monte Carlo when Reginald was suddenly taken ill and died in his 60s.
Despite the tragedy, Lily continued to enjoy life to the full and was driving well into old age.
She had a large extended family and her seven nephews and nieces kept her very busy.
One of her nieces, Jane Hirons, aged 60, nicknamed her sprightly aunt Champagne Lil' after she appeared in the Evening Telegraph glass in hand on her 102nd birthday.
Mrs Hirons said: "Lily absolutely loved her life. She was a real lady and still as sharp as ever. She hadn't even gone grey. When she was younger she travelled all over the world on beautiful holidays - America, Italy, Egypt... she even went to Beirut.
"She also loved driving and we've still got her last car - a Hillman Deluxe - which is in pristine condition."
Lily spent her last years in Beaufort Residential Home, Kenilworth Road, but she never lost her zest for life.
She celebrated her 100th birthday by joining the 2001 Coventry Run.
Lily died on February 21. Her funeral is at St James Church, Styvechale, next Thursday at 1pm.
A landmark year
LILY Tribe was born in Coventry in 1901.
In that same year:
Queen Victoria died at the age of 81. The 25th US president William McKinley was fatally shot in Buffalo. King Camp Gilette and William Nickerson teamed up to produce the safety razor.
CAPTION(S):
BUBBLY: Lily celebrating her 102nd birthday in September 2003 (above), on her wedding day (right) and (left) at work in the Saxess Chairs toy shop she ran in the city centre
 Printer friendly
 Cite/link
 Email
 Feedback
| |
| Publication: | Coventry Evening Telegraph (England) |
|---|---|
| Date: | Mar 3, 2005 |
| Words: | 416 |
| Previous Article: | Fire in living room. |
| Next Article: | How your money has helped tsunami victims; pounds 100,000 brings new hope for families and children in Sri Lanka. |