Tributes paid to Paula Wood

ONE of Kegworth’s best known and much loved residents, Paula Wood, has passed away at the age of 73.

She passed away after a nine year struggle with secondary breast cancer. She had first been diagnosed in 1994 but treatment had been thought to be successful and she enjoyed 17 years in remission.

Although she was born and raised in Nottingham, she and her husband Brian settled in Kegworth in 1976, after he came out of the RAF.

Shortly after arriving in the village, she saw a poster asking if there was anyone interested in forming a fund-raising committee for Cancer Research and she signed up, as she had lost her mum at a very young age to mesothelioma and asbestosis, a form of cancer caught by working on gas masks in the war.

The committee raised funds by staging many events.

The committee disbanded in early 1995, at about the time of her first diagnosis, but Paula decided to carry on fundraising as a local honorary fund-raiser, opening her home two or three times a year for coffee mornings. These were always generously supported by friends, both in terms of their time and efforts.

In total Paula is credited with having raised from the events she organised and was involved with the amazing sum of £144,698.15.

In between all this fund-raising, Paula worked for the Natwest and successfully raised two children and was absolutely adored by her two grandsons. She is predeceased by her husband Brian in 2012 and will be missed by many, not just because of her legendary lemon drizzle and parkin cakes.

Her funeral service is to be held at St Andrew’s church, Kegworth at 3pm on Monday next week, February 17, then afterwards at Loughborough Crematorium at 4:15pm. Family flowers only, donations to Cancer Research appreciated.