JUTTA Cullis died and was buried in Scotland where she and her husband, Harry Cullis, had moved to be near their daughter, Catharine. But it was in Devizes, where she had spent the largest part of her life, that she left her greatest mark and a crowd of those whose lives had been enriched by her friendship, warmth and care came together in St Andrew’s Church on Sunday, to remember and celebrate her life.

Jutta, nee Baranowski, was born in Remsfeld, Germany in 1931. The warmth and joy of her early childhood was followed by events that cast a dark shadow. The family had moved to the town of Kassel, which was the subject of one of the deadliest bombing campaigns of the Second World War. Jutta relied on an inner world built through her Christian faith in an outer world of “destruction, cruelty, hate and ever present death”.

A family connection brought her to England in 1950 to work as an au pair in the household of a Methodist minister in Newcastle and she became involved with teams of young people in the Order of Christian Witness. Jutta returned to Germany determined to dedicate herself to reconciliation between nations, warmed by the friendships she had formed, including a friendship with a Joan Cullis (which 10 years later was to lead her to her husband).

Jutta went to Marburg University and then trained as a teacher. In 1961 she married Harry Cullis, son of a Welsh miner, and they settled in England where Harry trained as a teacher and joined the staff of St Peter’s School, Devizes. From 1967 to 2012, they lived in a house in Pans Lane, which became not just a family home for their four children but a centre for their hospitality and befriending. All-comers were welcomed – often finding a place set at the table for them; often engaged in lively conversation; often, for those going through difficult times, offered warmth and comfort, a prayer – and a hug! In later life Jutta gently mocked her own ambition to work for “reconciliation between nations” but in truth at a local level she did reach out and extended the hand of friendship to many, motivated by her Christian faith.