A FORMER machinist with a passion for making patchwork quilts has died.
Janet Harper, of Gretton Road, Mapperley, died peacefully at home on January 19, aged 72.
A funeral service took place at Holy Trinity Church, Lambley, on February 4, and Mrs Harper was laid to rest at Lambley Cemetery.
More than 100 people attended the service, at which donations were collected in aid of the Nottingham University Hospital Charity's breast cancer research appeal.
Mrs Harper was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, and her family have thanked staff at the City Hospital for caring for her over the last 15 years.
Her husband of 49 years, Roy Harper, 74, said: "She was a valued friend."
Mrs Harper, nee Mason, was born in Lambley on March 26, 1940. The youngest of three children, she attended Lambley Primary School and Redhill School.
She embarked on a career as a machinist, firstly at the Kirklands factory in Lambley, then Bancrofts factory, in Roden Street, Sneinton, where she worked for around 25 years.
She met Mr Harper at the age of 17, while he was on his rounds in Lambley as a mobile butcher for the Co-op.
Her mother was a regular customer of Mr Harper, who was 18 when he met his future wife. They married at Lambley Parish Church on October 12, 1963 and settled in Gretton Road.
They had two sons – David, now 47 and of Sherwood, and Russell, 45, of Arnold.
Mrs Harper stopped working in 1986.
Her main interest outside work was as a member of the Patterns and Plains Quilting Group.
Mr Harper said: "She had a lot of friends from there. We also used to go caravanning in Derbyshire. Nether Heage was our favourite area; we would go more or less every weekend in the summer."
Son Russell said: "She was bubbly. She made friends easily and kept them.
"She liked nothing more than putting the kettle on for a cup of tea and having a good chat with her friends."
Mrs Harper is also survived by her brother, Brian, 76, of Arnold, and sister Margaret, 78, of Mapperley.
