Former Malmesbury Primary School teacher Daphne Hurst lost her battle with cancer on Sunday.
Mrs Hurst, 63, came to Wiltshire with her husband John in 1973, settling in Milbourne where she lived for the rest of her life.
She taught in Swindon and then Malmesbury Primary School, leaving in 1976 to have the first of her three children.
She returned to Malmesbury Primary in 1984 but in 1991 left to retrain as a special needs teacher – an area which she felt was then neglected.
She joined the Malmesbury Singers and Swindon Gilbert & Sullivan Society and greatly enjoyed performing on the Wyvern stage.
Her teaching career culminated at Christian Malford School where she took charge of school musicals.
Her husband John paid tribute to her bright outlook on life. “She was always smiling. People always felt better for seeing her,” he said.
See also her obituary.
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