Fond tribute paid to community stalwart

ACTIVE . . . Ann Lord celebrates her 102nd birthday on the July 16 last year

A FORMER headmistress, who was very active and social all her life, has died.

Ann (Annie) Hemingway Lord died peacefully at Total Care, Middleton Road, Chadderton, on Saturday January 21.

She celebrated her 102nd birthday last July, showing off her fancy footwork on the dance floor at the Chadderton Town Hall Ballroom during a special afternoon tea and dance.

Ann was well known in the community, as she was a member of various groups.

Her closest friends were Ann Emmott and Margaret Dixon, who lived opposite Ann in Chadderton Park Road, before she moved to Total Care.

Ann met her close friend Ann Emmott at St Matthew and St Luke's Church, in Chadderton Hall Road, 17 years ago.

Mrs Emmott (77) said: "She was a very special lady, and a lady in all sense of the word. She was very kind and strong in her faith.

"She loved to go out she walked everywhere anywhere. That's probably to do her with longevity. She wouldn't have a wheelchair. She was very independent. She loved everything about life. Everybody loved her. She was brilliant."

Born on July 16, 1914, Ann was the youngest of six children who grew up in Darwin Street, Roundthorn.

Her father was a tram conductor and her mother worked in the service and had her first child at the age of 40.

Ann worked at Glen Mill, Lees, after leaving school at the age of 14. She went into domestic service before joining Air Raid Precautions during the Second World War.

After a period of time working in the health service, Ann became a teacher and was made headmistress at Havenside Special School in Moorside in 1960. She was instrumental in choosing the name of the school and worked there until her retirement in 1974.

Ann was very active and put her good health down to walking, as she never owned a car, and was a member of many rambling clubs.

She also helped out at Mill's Hill Baptist Church and was a regular at the Failsworth and District Residents' Association lunch club.

Ann's funeral takes place on February 9 at her regular church in Chadderton Hall Road at 11am followed by committal at Oldham Crematorium at noon. She requested for no flowers but donations in lieu to St Matthew's Building Fund.

For more information call 0161 624 4132.