It is with great sadness that we pass on the news that Ronnie Perring passed away just after Christmas, leaving his wife Caroline and their three children.
Ronnie was a hard-working family man who was diagnosed aged 41 with a brain tumour and forced to give up his livelihood and stop running the family’s floristry business, The Flowered Corner, on London’s Ladbroke Grove.
For more than 30 years, Ronnie had been a familiar face on the iconic and bustling Portobello Market and Christmas was one of his favourite times of the year. Ronnie loved selling Christmas trees and it was a tradition for his family to join in the floral festivities.
A post on Portobello Road Market’s Facebook page reads: “We would like to pay our respects to a lovely, hard-working man - Ronnie Perring - who sadly passed away Sunday 27th December. A great businessman, kind and genuine, who would do anything to help - a role model who will always be in our hearts.”
In 2017, Ronnie’s sister Wendy Wilkins, a florist, held a Christmas wreath-making day to raise funds for Brain Tumour Research and, in 2018, Ronnie and his family shared his story to launch our Christmas appeal. The following year his son George ran the London Marathon, raising more than £5,500.
Ronnie was first diagnosed with a low-grade astrocytoma brain tumour in 2014 and underwent two surgeries, radiotherapy and chemotherapy which affected his strength, speech and mobility. Just a year later the tumour had transformed into an aggressive glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).
We send heartfelt condolences to Caroline and all Ronnie’s family. May he rest in peace.
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