Funeral to be held in Melton for ‘London Jean’

Jean Keogh, known to her many friends in the area as ‘London Jean’, passed away recently at the age of 71 after a battle with lung cancer.

She lived the last 11 years of her life in Hose after a lifetime of travelling around the country and returning many times to live in Melton.

Her eldest daughter, Amanda, told the Melton Times: “Mum grew up in London but she loved Melton and that was why we decided she should be buried there.

“She loved the people, the pubs and the atmosphere in the town.

“She was a real rock and roll person and she liked to drink in all the pubs.

“A lot of people in the town will know her has London Jean and they will be sorry she’s gone.”

Jean first came to Melton when she was 16 in the mid-1960s and quickly made friends, particularly in the town’s biker community.

Her first husband was from the town, Jock Underwood, and they married in 1971.

She leaves five children, 20 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren.

Jean lived latterly with her friend, Alan Booth, in Hose - sadly they both died of cancer within a week of each other.

Amanda added: “She lived life to the full and always told it as it was.”

A funeral cortege will pass through Melton at 10am tomorrow with the vehicles passing by many of Jean’s favourite pubs.

An outdoor service will then be held at the Thorpe Road cemetery followed by a wake at the town’s British Legion club with number restricted to 30 because of the coronavirus pandemic.