A MOORGREEN woman who dedicated her life to helping others has died.
Mother-of-two Juliet Evans lost her battle against cancer on October 9, aged 76.
A funeral service for Mrs Evans took place at St Mary's Church, Greasley, on Thursday.
Son Nigel Evans, 42, of Stoke-on-Trent, who gave the eulogy at the service, said: "We are proud of mum and all that she has achieved, for all the lives that she has touched through her work as a nurse, her faith, her work in Mothers' Union and through her generous friendship and support of others."
Mrs Evans, nee Church, was born in Chiswick on July 2, 1936.
For a short while during the Second World War she was evacuated to Gloucestershire with her mother but soon returned to London – where she and her mum were buried under the family's grand piano when a doodlebug flying bomb hit the street in which she lived.
In 1956, Mrs Evans began her training as a nurse at St Thomas Hospital, London, and qualified in 1960.
After completing her training, she trained as a midwife before deciding to move to Australia and become a nurse in Sydney.
In 1967, she had accepted a post to train in tropical diseases in Papua New Guinea but before going, decided to catch the boat home.
It was on this boat that she met her future husband, Alan Evans.
Nigel said: "She gave up the opportunity to go to Papua New Guinea and instead settled in Moorgreen."
The couple married in Sussex in 1968 and moved into a house in Moorgreen the same year.
After moving to the village, Mrs Evans became a Tawny Owl in the local Brownie pack and did meals on wheels.
She was also worshipped at St Mary's Church, Greasley, becoming a member of the choir and taking up committee roles.
Mrs Evans was a member of Greasley Players and of the Mothers' Union, for which she was Newstead Deanery leader.
After having her daughter, Roz, in 1975, she went back to work doing night duty at Nottingham General Hospital, before becoming a school nurse based at Eastwood Clinic and finally at Hucknall Health Centre. She retired 16 years ago.
Nigel said: "She will be missed so much by us all but our lives are the richer for having known her."
