FAMILY and friends have recalled the wartime stories of a lady from Shebbear who passed away earlier this year at the grand age of 103.

Janet Ruxton celebrated her 103rd birthday in June 2016 and sadly passed away in the spring of this year. Mrs Ruxton had a colourful life and most notably used to lunch with the former prime minister of the UK, Winston Churchill.

In a fitting tribute her daughter, Diane Downing, spoke about her mother’s life.

She said: “Janet who was 103 years old had a long and interesting life, from training as a nursery nurse, to serving in the fire service during the Second World War, after which she became a teacher.

“She along with her husband Allan, a teacher, lived in Ghana for a number of years and this gave her the opportunity to return to nursing at the Mampong Maternity Hospital.”

Mrs Ruxton moved to Shebbear with her late husband, Allan Ruxton, almost 40 years ago in the mid to early 80s from Kent.

Diane said: “On returning to the UK she continued to teach in Kent, before she and her husband retired to Shebbear. Janet and Allan set about renovating their cottage and enjoying and planting out the garden. Janet loved being part of the village and when able was a regular worshipper at St Michaels.”

Penny Warren, who was a former carer for Mrs Ruxton — or one of her ‘ladies’ as Mrs Ruxton affectionately referred to them — gave an excellent account of what it was like to know the great lady. She said: “Janet Ruxton was an amazing lady. We all knew that, not least because she was still going pretty strong by the time she reached 103. But for those of us who knew her well, she was a very special person.”

Penny said Mrs Ruxton would take people on a journey through the power of her stories. She said: “Janet’s stories were second to none. It wasn’t only the content of the stories but the way she told them. We would find ourselves right there with her in the midst of her story, absorbed — perhaps out in Ghana hearing how she would take tiny babies home from the hospital to give special care, or we would find ourselves amongst the young people she taught in Kent, in world war air raids, or with her sister in their younger days.

“Sometimes we would find ourselves in a grand house just pre second world war, but upstairs with the children who Janet was nursery nurse to, and sometimes we were taken in by her stories with her to visit her formidable aunts where servants would take the little Janet off to play, and we would be laughing about the naughty escapades below stairs.”

Penny said Mrs Ruxton loved people and was always welcoming to whomsoever paid her a visit. She said: “She was delighted by whoever visited, welcomed and, as long as she was able, served whoever came. As she grew older she was so happy to let visitors feel at home and take charge of the coffee making for her.”

One of Mrs Ruxton’s passions was her garden and age never stopped her from getting outside and pruning. Penny said: “Janet’s garden was always a delight and even when she was 100 she’d potter out there with scissors to do a little tidying. And then of course there were the badgers…those of us who helped Jan in the evenings had the special joy of putting out the badger food — peanuts and peanut butter sandwiches — and then watching them come, right up to the sitting room French-windows, sometimes whole families of badgers.”

Penny said that her life, and the lives of Mrs Ruxton’s ‘ladies’, was much richer for knowing a lady who had seen and done it all. She said: “I think for all of us who were able to help look after Jan over so many years, and particularly Jane Jones and Lorraine, our lives are so much richer for it. It was a privilege and a joy.

“And each of us, and Jan’s family, are so grateful for Jan’s peaceful pain-free passing and wonderful extra care given by the surgery and community nurses — community care at its absolute best.”

She added: “There is now a hole in some of our lives. Thank you Jan so much for all you gave to us in your graciousness, your fun, your wisdom and your love.”