TRIBUTES have been paid to former Gazette & Herald advertising rep Nancy Buckley, who has died aged 91.

Nancy spent 53 years in the newspaper industry. Initially working for the Pontefract and Castleford Express, she joined Newsquest, publishers of the Gazette & Herald, in 1978, and worked at the office in Yorkersgate, Malton, until her retirement - at the age of 79 - in 2006.

Former Gazette & Herald journalist David Jeffels, who worked with Nancy as part of the Malton office team for many years, said: “Nancy and the Gazette & Herald have been synonymous in Ryedale for a long time. While she had much expertise in her sales skills, she was also a wonderful person to work with, having a great sense of humour and a lively mind, able to talk on any subject and with a significant sense of what made good newspaper stories.

“Nancy will be remembered with much affection by the host of businesses she worked with for many years.”

Craig Cooper, of Coopers in Pickering, said he had known Nancy for 35 years, and that in her long stint in Ryedale she had worked with three generations of Coopers.

“She was lovely,” he said. “And very good at her job, very conscientious. You could always rely on her, and she’ll be sadly missed.”

Nancy leaves behind a son, Philip, as well as four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Philip said that even after retirement, Nancy carried on working on a holiday magazine in Scarborough for 10 years. “The rest of her time she spent in her garden,” he added, “and she had a big circle of friends.”

Last year Nancy moved south to be closer to family, and got to meet her great-grandchild. “It was a great joy to her,” he said.

Nancy’s funeral will take place on Wednesday, July 18, at 11.15am, at All Saints’ Church in Pontefract, with the burial at noon.