Tributes for Vera who was school's lollipop lady for 46 years

Vera Foster was lollipop lady outside Asfordby Hill School for generations of village families until she was paralysed in a car accident in 2012.

Her years of dedication in the role led to her being invited to a garden party held by The Queen at Buckingham Palace for community stalwarts.

She held the position from 1966 and clocked up a remarkable 46 years before having to give it up due to her paralysis.

Vera’s son, Lorne, told the Melton Times: “Mum lived for the children. As the years went on, the children she helped to cross ended up being the parents of other children who were crossing the road with her.”

Born in Melton Mowbray, Vera was one of four children and her father was a local groom.

Her first job was as a dairy girl on a farm in Nottingham and she also worked at the city’s Lace Market.

She married Leslie in 1954 after meeting him in a pub and the couple originally lived at Screveton, in Nottinghamshire.

They moved to Asfordby Hill in 1965, when he got a job at Holwell Works.

The following year, Vera spotted an advert for the role of lollipop lady for the school. She got the job after an interview at Melton police station.

She would go out in all weathers, ushering children safely across the road before and after school and at lunchtimes too.

Her invite to Buckingham Palace came in 2011 and she was always proud of rubbing shoulders with Her Majesty, as well as the then Prince Charles and Camilla.

Her devastating car accident, which involved another car and a motorcycle, close to the island at Asfordby Hill, left her in a wheelchair from the age of 80. Vera was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham and then on to the Sheffield spinal unit.

Lorne recalled: “They said she was lucky to be alive when we went to see her. The amazing thing was I never heard her moan once or be down in all those years after her accident. That is incredible to me.”

Two of the school’s teachers continued to visit her after the accident right up until two weeks before her death.

Vera was very sporty and she enjoyed going to support Nottingham Panthers ice hockey team.

So much so, that their son was named after Lorne Smith, the team’s Canadian player, when he was born in 1958.

Leslie passed away in 2014. The couple also had three grandchildren – Gemma, Elissa and Annabelle, who is training with the Royal Ballet.

Lorne added: “Mum was always active during her life and she was young at heart even in later years.

“She would watch telly and do word searches after her accident. Her brain was constantly on the go.”

A funeral service for Vera will take place at Asfordby All Saints’ Church, at 2.15pm on Monday March 11.

Family flowers only are requested with donations to Cancer Research UK.