PIANIST Eva Tate has passed away just a few months short of her 100th birthday.

Mrs Tate was born on November 22, 1915, at Downing Street in Chippenham to parents, William and Beatrice Harris.

She attended Lowden Church of England School and left at the age of 14 when she started work in an office at the Westinghouse Signal Company.

At 15, she met her future husband, George Harrison Tate, from Hull in Yorkshire, who was working at the same company as an apprentice.

The pair started dating not long after an open air dance at a large house called Courtlands in Lacock on June 27, 1932. Mr Tate was playing and singing in the band performing at the dance with the final song, ‘Goodnight Sweetheart’ since being remembered as the couple’s own song.

The couple were married at St Nicholas’ Church in Chippenham on June 24, 1939 and lived their entire married life together on Bristol Road.

Mrs Tate remained a housewife until the outbreak of the Second World War where she began to work as a wages clerk in the town surveyors department at the local government offices.

After the war, Mr Tate joined a dance band as a guitarist which his wife later joined after stepping in last minute for the main pianist who was taken ill. Her performances were so well received that she was asked to stay on.

After reaching professional standard, the group played at hotels for dance parties and other social events including Badminton House, home of the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, where they played many times. The band eventually stopped playing in the late 1980s.

Ever the musician, Mrs Tate continued playing piano into her 90s and spent her later years with her great great nephew in St Ives, Cornwall.

A funeral service for Mrs Tate was held on August 3 at St Nicholas Church in Chippenham but donations in her memory can be sent: c/o W J Winn Funeral Director, Trenwith Terrace, St Ives, TR26 1QE.