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• Obituaries 

Ex-brigade sister was a proud Rochdalian

Alice McKeegan
30/10/2007

A FORMER serving sister with St John Ambulance Brigade died in Springhill Hospice after a brave battle with leukaemia. She was 73.

Catherine Smyth, who lived in Caesar Street, Kirkholt, was the eldest daughter of Charles and Catherine Hall and the sister of Charlie and Frank.

In 1951, her life changed when she met her husband Michael at the Carlton ballroom. The couple married two years later and had two children, Sean and Anita.

Despite a hectic family life and a burgeoning career with the ambulance brigade, she still found time to work as an industrial nurse for Castleton-based Farrell Bridge engineering company and Thomas Robinson in Fishwick Street.

She later took on a new challenge at Buckley Hall Borstal, where she relished the opportunity to teach the offenders valuable life skills.

She was a proud Rochdalian and according to her family was a ‘Rochdale lass through and through.’

She enjoyed working and spending time with her five grandchildren, Lee, Cherie, Rebecca, Rachel and Jessica. She was also a great-grandmother to Natalya, Mason, Logan, Izaac, Kennedy, Lucy and Lewis.

Her long-standing commitment to the brigade, which spanned almost 40 years, was recognised on three occasions when she was admitted to the order of St John. She was also area commissioner of the brigade for 20 years.

A spokesman for the family said: "She touched so many lives and was always on hand when needed.

"She was a fun-loving person with a great sense of humour and has left an irreplaceable gap. Her husband Michael has lost his soulmate. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her."

Mrs Smyth’s granddaughter, Cherie Whitbread, said: "She’s left a huge void in our family. My grandfather is completely lost without her and we’re all devastated.

"She was a very kind lady and always helping people through her work with St John’s. We will miss her dearly."

A requiem mass was held at Holy Family RC Church followed by interment at Rochdale Cemetery.

All inquiries to Wild and Brierley Ltd on 0161 624 1209.