“Devoted” family man and former Oxford car worker John McCarthy has died at the age of 90.

Mr McCarthy, right, was born on July 24, 1921 in County Cork, Ireland.

He was the youngest of five children and first came to Oxford in 1947 to visit his brother who was then in hospital.

Rushing into a shop in Cornmarket Street he literally bumped into his future wife, Mary Lines, and the 27-year-old asked her out for a cup of tea.

Four years later they were married at St Hugh of Lincoln church in Woodstock.

The couple celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary last year by embarking on a 14-day cruise to St Petersburg in Russia and renewed their vows onboard.

Mary McCarthy, 80, said: “He was devoted to his family.

“He worked overtime whenever he could so he could get money for us.”

Mr McCarthy, who worked for Pressed Steel Fisher in Cowley for 35 years until he retired, cycled into work from their home in Mickle Way, Forest Hill, every day.

His wife, who worked in the civil service before leaving to bring up their family, said: “I don’t remember him ever taking a day off sick.

“He was very fit and healthy. I think it was all that cycling.”

Mr McCarthy died in the John Radcliffe hospital on Thursday, February 9, following a fall and was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery yesterday.

He is survived by his wife, Mary, six children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

One of Mr McCarthy’s sons, Michael, ran the McCarthy’s Fruit and Veg stall in the Covered Market for 35 years before selling the business two years ago.