Tessa Burbidge

Tessa Burbidge, (née Godsell) 81, was remembered by a large congregation at St Bartholomew's Church, where the service was led by Lay Minister Margaret Williams, of Swindon, who knew the family for very many years.

She recalled Tessa as a warm, lovely, funny, popular person, who treasured her family and her many friends. The minister said: "Her friendship was such that even if we did not see each other for months we would just pick up the threads as if we had only met yesterday. She was a very special lady."

Tessa was named after Tess of the D'Urbervilles, a book which her mother had enjoyed reading while awaiting her birth.

In a happy marriage to Roy Burbidge, Tessa was well known in Wootton Bassett, where she had many friends and interests, including dogs, antiques and cooking and evening classes in pottery. The Antiques Roadshow was her favourite TV programme. Tessa's family included three children, Robert, Carole and the late Trudy. The minister said that Tessa and Roy were devastated when Trudy died in 2006, and Tessa never quite recovered from that loss.

After the service in church, Tessa was laid to rest with Trudy at the town cemetery. Memorial donations, for Brighter Futures, the Great Western Hospital Radiotherapy Appeal, may be sent to Johnson & Daltrey,112 High Street, Royal Wootton Bassett SN4 7AU.