Tributes have been paid to a respected businesswoman who died three years after her husband passed away.

Leading property professional Jean Godbert lost her fight with breast cancer on Wednesday, May 29.

The 59-year-old, of Alderley Edge, died in the East Cheshire Hospice, having battled the illness for some time.

She held a series of senior roles during her career, including as national chairman of the Women in Property group, which promotes the work of females in the sector.

Her death comes just two years after husband and former colleague Robert Shaw died, aged 61.

The couple had three children together – Kate, 25, Jack,23  and Guy, 19.

Jean and Robert worked together at property firm Knight Frank in the 1990s, which Robert left in 1999 and went on to co-found firm Guest Shaw.

Jean left two years later to join Jones Lang LaSalle, where she was a director up until her death.

Julian Sandbach, of JLL in Manchester, said: “Whilst Jean’s passing is very sad it is also a relief for her from the long fight she has been having against cancer.   On several occasions she seemed to have won the battle with her strength and determination.

“Jean was at the forefront of her market for most of her professional career, being not only a local and regional player but also nationally recognised in the lease advisory sector;  a position recognised by the number of messages of condolence received from surveyors across the country. While she was not able to be in the office very often over the last year or so, she has always been a very important part of our team and was called on for her guidance and expertise. She will greatly missed by all her colleagues.”

Jean worked at Lambert Smith Hampton, in London, before moving to the north west to take up a role at Dunlop Heywood, in Manchester. Other top roles she had were chair of the Junior Organisation of the Greater Manchester RICS, the trade body for chartered surveyors, and was an external examiner for Liverpool John Moores University.

Robert died in 2010, having suffered from motor-neurone disease. A year earlier, he became the first person with the condition to sail across the Atlantic.

Jean’s funeral was held last Thursday at Saint Philips Church, Alderley Edge.