Former Maidenhead nurse Gloria Fraser dies aged 71

Much-loved Maidenhead community figure Gloria Fraser MBE has died.

The 71-year-old passed away on Tuesday last week at Torbay Hospital in Devon.

She lived in the town for more than 30 years and worked as an auxiliary nurse in the town for 27 of them.

Gloria was born in Surrey in 1941.

Following her parents' divorce she moved to Richmond where she worked in a department store.

There she met William 'Bill' Fraser, who worked for a shop fitting company, and they married in 1961.

They lived in Molesey and had two sons, Andrew and Neil, before moving to Haddon Road, Maidenhead, in the late Sixties.

Bill opened Newfair Shopfitters in Grenfell Place and two hardware stores. The couple had their third son, Keith, in 1970.

Gloria, who worked as a nurse for Marie Curie Cancer Care, was made an MBE for services to healthcare in 2006.

The grandmother-of-five was a key figure in Maidenhead Drama Guild and was secretary of Maidenhead Drama Festival.

She was also a founder member and volunteer reader for Maidenhead Talking Newspaper.

Chairman Pat Davey said: "She was really a lovely person. She would do anything for anybody."

Gloria was also a member of the PTA at Altwood CE School, attended by her sons, and a lollipop lady in Wootton Way.

The animal lover's interests included caravanning, foreign holidays, theatre and archaeology.

She moved to Devon with Bill in 2006 and together they fulfilled a lifelong ambition to visit Egypt.

She died following a 16-month battle with pancreatic cancer, and was caring for Bill, who is ill himself, until only a few weeks earlier.

Her funeral is due to take place today at Drakes of Torbay Funeral Service chapel.