Mrs Pauline Hodgson, of Trowbridge, passed away at home last Friday, aged 82.

She was born on January 14, 1932 in Portsmouth and was the youngest of seven children. She had five sisters, Rene, Fifi, Vera, Lardy and Betty, and one brother, Bon, short for Ronald.

Her maiden name was Whitehead.

She had two children, her daughter George, short for Georgina, Johnston and son Peter Hodgson who lives in Sweden with granddaughter Rebecca Hodgson.

Both son and daughter attended Staverton CE Primary School where she was a dinner lady. She met her husband Roland Hodgson in Portsmouth when she was a Girl Guide and he was a Sea Scout. George said: “He noticed a girl in shorts at a camp fire who looked a bit dishevelled and had a black smudge of ash on her face.”

They were married in 1954.

Mr Hodgson passed away in 2012 aged 84. He worked in the Ministry of Defence.

The family moved to The Circus in Bath and then to St Mary’s Gardens, Trowbridge in 1960 where they stayed ever since.

Both were involved in the Scouting movement. Mr Hodgson was Leader for the First Hilperton Scouts and she was a Leader for the Second Hilperton Brownies and Guides. She was also a leader in the Scout Fellowship.

Mr Hodgson used to call her by the nickname Pop.

She loved gardening, cooking, spending time with children, knitting and was very community minded. She also took part in many of the Trowbridge Carnivals.

George said: “She was warm with a fantastic sense of humour, caring, loyal and a roll-your-sleeves-up and get stuck in kind of lady.”

The funeral will be held at the West Wiltshire Crematorium in Semington at 1.45pm on Wednesday. The family has asked for family flowers only at the funeral but donations to Parkinson’s UK would be welcome.