My wife, Audrey Titcombe, who has died aged 79, was an ardent socialist and a supporter of all unions, especially the National Union of Mineworkers during the strikes of 1983-84. She was an inspiration to all who knew her.

Audrey was born in Canning Town, east London. She was evacuated to Wales during the second world war, along with her brother, Peter. I met her in 1959 and was immediately taken by her generosity of spirit, as she paid my bus fare to the station at Romford, north-east London, where we both lived. After a brief romance, we married and went on to live together for 51 years.

Our first child, Claire, was born when we lived in Billingshurst, Sussex. We then took a pub, The Three Horseshoes, in Birchanger, Essex. It was there that her benevolence came to the fore, as she insisted on providing local pensioners with free lunches. Not surprisingly, after 18 months we had to leave, as our profits had become scarce.

In 1967, our second daughter, Charlotte, was born. After we moved into a Tudor farmhouse in Stanningfield, Suffolk, Audrey discovered her love of writing, and created a series of children's books about Tat the Cat. Tat lived at Snuff Box Farm, a real address nearby. I readily took the opportunity to illustrate these books as well as her later series, Morgan, the Absent-Minded Mallard.

We eventually moved to the county market town of Beccles, Suffolk, where we lived for the last seven years. Audrey had a profound effect on all the family and will be sadly missed. I survive her, with Claire and Charlotte, their husbands Matt and Christian, and her beloved grandchildren, Daisy, Arthur, Felix and Florrie, of whom she was extremely proud.