Tributes paid to well-known Heysham carer who 'touched many lives'

Relatives and friends celebrated the life of Jean Withers, a well-known carer in the community, at a get-together in Heysham.
Jean Withers on her graduation from the Open University.Jean Withers on her graduation from the Open University.
Jean Withers on her graduation from the Open University.

Jean helped countless people through her work in childcare, the Samaritans, Signposts in Morecambe and the Labour Party.

At Signposts, she helped many homeless people and others with problems.

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She was involved with the Labour Party from the age of 16 and was disability officer with Morecambe and Lunesdale Constituency Labour Party.

Jean died in Blackpool Victoria Hospital, aged 70.

Tributes were paid at her funeral at Lancaster Crematorium by her husband Anthony and younger daughter Helen.

Her service to the community was capped with a BA degree in social sciences and child development from the Open University, which was conferred in 2009 in Manchester's Bridgewater Hall.

Jean was born in Manchester, married Anthony in Bolton in 1973 and moved to Heysham in 1984 when he got a job at Heysham 2 Power Station.

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Helen said in her tribute that her mother touched many people's lives.

One message she had received spoke of Jean as compassionate and kind: A life lived for others.

“She was never a seeker of the limelight, preferring instead to shine it elsewhere: On to others she felt more deserving.”

Helen described her parents' relationship as solid as a rock through thick and thin.

Jean also leaves two sons Colin and John, elder daughter Carol, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Donations in her memory are going to North West Air Ambulance and the Dogs' Trust.

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