‘A courageous lady who was a friend to many’

Born in Melton, Pauline had to cope with having rheumatoid arthritis for much of her life after being diagnosed at the age of 18.

She will be remembered by many for her long career as a telephonist and administrator at the town’s medical practice.

Pauline began working there in 1952 when it was based in Nottingham Street.

When she clocked up her 40th year of service there in 1992, Dr Paul Johnston and members of staff took her on a tour of Buckingham Palace followed by tea at The Ritz.

Pauline was an efficient, caring and reliable senior member of staff who was much loved by colleagues and patients, alike.

She would always ‘go the extra mile’ to help doctors and patients.

She retired from Latham House when it had relocated to Sage Cross Street in 1996.

Born as the only child of Mary and Alf Veasey, Pauline was a great lover of travel and visited many countries before getting her arthritis diagnosis.

This she bore with great courage and underwent many surgical interventions, often joking that she was more metal than bone.

After losing her father, Pauline’s mother’s health declined and eventually Mary moved into a care home.

An old friend of the family, Bob Finch, came to visit Mary frequently and he and Pauline eventually fell in love.

Great joy was shared among her many friends, who felt that, at the age of 65, there was to be a fairy tale ending to what had been a hard life on the whole for Pauline.

She married Bob at St Mary the Virgin Church in Thorpe Arnold, on July 26, 2000.

The couple were very happy, moving into a bungalow on Gloucester Crescent.

Bob was a very caring and considerate husband and nothing was too much trouble for him in looking after Pauline. However, Bob was sadly diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and died a year later.

Pauline was understandably heartbroken, and never recovered from the deep sadness of losing Bob.

She kept his cap on her armchair for the rest of her life.

Pauline was one of the founder members of Melton Mowbray Arthritis Research Council (ARC), alongside the then chairman Ken Inkley and president Edith Hammond.

Maureen Moore joined in 1976 and soon became chairman, working alongside Pauline for almost 30 years.

Maureen says that during this time, despite her health problems, Pauline worked tirelessly, and helped to raise more than £500,000.

It was a vibrant committee with many events being held through the year, including dances, garden fetes, coffee mornings, market stalls, flag days, jumble sales, fashion shows and concerts.

Pauline was always happy when she was collecting prizes for tombola and raffles and never ceased to amaze colleagues at the amount she collected. The annual dance held in March would raise around £2,000 alone.

Pauline was awarded the MBE in the New Year’s Honours List of 1982 and it was later presented to her by the Queen. This was a particular honour for her because she was devoted to the royal family and had a big collection of memorabilia.

Maureen Moore said: “I do believe, apart from her MBE, her highlight was in 1996 when we celebrated 25 years of ARC in Melton Mowbray and our birthday celebration was held at Belvoir Castle by kind permission of the Duke and Duchess of Rutland.

“We even had a guard of honour on arrival, of which she said she felt very proud.”

Pauline also raise money for Toc H, when meetings were on Scalford Road.

As her health deteriorated, Pauline moved to Egerton Lodge Residential Home, in Melton.

A strong and courageous lady, and a very good friend to many, Pauline will be very sadly missed by all her friends and family.

A funeral will be held at Loughborough Crematorium on Friday July 17 at 11.45am.

A memorial service will be arranged at Thorpe Arnold Church at a later date, when all will be welcome.