Bridgnorth crash tragedy couple were found holding hands
Tributes were paid today to a loving couple who were found holding hands inside their damaged car moments after a crash in Shropshire which claimed both their lives.
John and Betty Hodgkiss, who had been married 52 years, had been travelling from their home in Tipton to their favourite pub near Bridgnorth when tragedy struck.
Mr Hodgkiss, an 82-year-old retired bus driver and former army corporal, died at the scene of the accident last Friday on the A458 Bridgnorth to Stourbridge road at Wootton, Six Ashes.
His wife Betty, 79, was airlifted to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital where she died the following evening.
Today their son David, 47, of Dudley, said he was "devastated" by their loss.
"The most comforting thing for me is that they have gone together," he said. "We were told that they were found holding hands in the car so they must have had time to say goodbye to each other."
Mr Hodgkiss had served in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers for five years including a stint in Korea. After that he worked as a coach driver, which led to a chance meeting with Betty.
He got talking to her while driving a coach from the Black Country to a show at the London Palladium.
They were together just 10 months before they got married at Hill Top Methodist Church, in West Bromwich, in 1961.
The couple lived in the Foxyards area of Tipton before moving to nearby Bilston Road, where they lived for 43 years.
Mr Hodgkiss had suffered some mobility issues in later years including having a hip operation last October and had bought an automatic black Ford Mondeo Zetec about six weeks ago. They would often visit The River and Rail Country Inn, in Hampton Loade, near Bridgnorth.
Police say the couple, who also had three granddaughters, were travelling from the Stourbridge direction towards Bridgnorth when the accident happened. Their car was involved in a collision with a grey Audi A4 TDI estate travelling in the opposite direction just after 2.30pm.
Witnesses are asked to call Bridgnorth or Shrewsbury police on 101 or 0300 333 3000.
