Tributes have been paid to a legendary Wiltshire shop owner who died after retiring aged 90.
Margaret Joan Pressley, known to many as Joan, ran Joan Pressley Hats for nearly 40 years, trading from her recognisable shop in Devizes for over three decades, and finally retired in June after a long and successful career.
She died on July 27 after a short illness.
Joan started her business in 1987 and moved into her premises in St John’s Alley in 1993, where she became a well-known and much loved figure in Devizes, attracting customers from across the country to her hat shop.
Behind the scenes, she was described as “family orientated" and leaves behind three children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
The family was very close and had regular get-togethers, and Joan’s children said this family unit is a big part of her legacy.
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“That’s an amazing legacy, to have a loving, wonderful close family”, they said.
“Everybody just loved her so much, she’ll leave a big hole in all our lives but we were so lucky to have her.”
Joan’s husband was in the Air Force and they travelled across much of the world, living in the far east in the 1960s and Germany in the 1970s before putting down roots in Wiltshire.
She went on to have a “wonderful life” in Devizes where she set up the business she would become known for far and wide.
Joan gained an “international reputation” supplying hats for Royal Ascot, weddings and garden parties.
The business lives on in the town after it was purchased by The Wardrobe Devizes when Joan retired.
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Joan’s children said: “The rest is history, she made a wonderful success of it, and it brought so many people to Devizes because people travelled from far and wide specially to come to the shop and ended up enjoying the town.
“She was full of life and enjoyed her life, she loved talking to people and her customers, what she achieved with the hat shop was just phenomenal.
“It was a successful business right to the very end and now it will continue in Devizes in its own way.”
Joan’s family described her as being “very creative” and someone with “a real drive and vision and a determination.”
She loved gardening and hat making and knew how to throw a good party.
Her children added: “She would just cheerfully keep going and inspire everybody she met.”
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