'Funny and eccentric' Cookham twinner and former Maidenhead Oxfam chairman Joy O'Farrell dies aged 86

Former chairman of Maidenhead Oxfam and human rights activist Joy O'Farrell has passed away aged 86 following a chest infection.

Joy chaired Maidenhead Oxfam in the 1970s and was instrumental in securing the charity a lease for its shop, and organising its annual summer fete.

She was also active in the Amnesty International Network, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Cookham's Labour Party.

Joy supported Cookham's twinning project from when it was launched in the 1990s, and regularly hosted French visitors from St Benoit at her Riverdene Cottage home.

Joy first moved to Maidenhead 54 years ago with her husband Gerald, a book dealer who died in 2008.

They moved to a riverside home in Boulters Lock in 1961, and lived there until the 1980s, when they moved to a cottage in Cookham beside Holy Trinity Church.

She worked in the juvenile rheumatism department at the Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital at Cliveden.

Joy featured in BBC television documentaries made by her son, John O'Farrell, who is an author and former Labour Party candidate for Maidenhead.

John said his mum, who used to insert jokes into the minutes she took at Amnesty International meetings, was a 'very funny and eccentric character'.

He said: "She's the only person in medical history to have had her hip replaced and asked the doctor if she could have the old bone for her dog."

John also praised his mother's generosity, saying: "She had a lady who used to work for her whose daughter couldn't afford a wedding reception, so she hosted it all at her house, and put on all the food and everything."

Joy died on Monday, October 26.

She is survived by her children Sally, Pat, John and Ann. A date has not been fixed yet for the funeral, which will be at Holy Trinity Church in Cookham, but details will be available from F.G. Pym and Sons funeral directors. Donations to Oxfam and Amnesty International.