JC photographer John Rifkin, whose wife Laraine died of cancer in 2007, is to marry Jewish Care PR manager Sue Levy. The news comes as a total surprise to colleagues at both the JC and the charity.

The pair started dating in secret a few months ago. Ms Levy, a 53-year-old divorcee, tells People: “We were discussing single life during a work-related telephone call. I said: ‘I’m sure you will start going out some day, when the time is right.’ John is a bit deaf and thought I said ‘Sunday’. I said: ‘I think you had better ask me out.’”

Mr Rifkin, 55, adds: “I was speechless. I hadn’t been on a date for 30 years. Then I thought, yes, why not? I wasn’t expecting to find love again, but I did. We are incredibly happy. I asked Sue to marry me after a romantic meal in Jerusalem, two days after her daughter’s wedding. I was relieved when she said yes.”

But there is one promise Mr Rifkin won’t be keeping. He once said that if Ms Levy ever re-married he would take the photos. “I could not have imagined that things would turn out this way.” The couple are to marry later this year and will live in Edgware, North London, where John is a member of Netzach Yisroel. Ms Levy is currently a member of Bushey Synagogue.