Annie Watts was an astonishing woman who coped with a terrible illness – idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. She was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire in 1937, final sibling in the huge brood of Devetta children. Her mother was a lovely warm woman and her father, who had been a coal miner, couldn’t resist auction houses. Sadly, they both died within a short time of each other leaving Annie bereft when she was just a young child. Her teenage years were dark times, she left school when she was 14 years old. Shy and unsure of herself, she finally found her calling when she began her nursing training aged 17. Being very beautiful brought her the sort of attention she found both flattering and confusing. She soon married a young doctor who, in the manner of the times, insisted that his wife should not work. A great regret of her’s was not finishing her nursing training. Her daughter Elizabeth was born in Poole, Dorset and the couple left for Africa. This was the great adventure. Not long afterward the couple had a son, Richard, born in Lagos, Nigeria. Annie and her husband then moved to Northern Rhodesia, as Zambia was then called. She loved being a mother and found it helped her overcome the loss of her own parents at such a tender age. Due to circumstances beyond her control the couple divorced leaving her with 2 very young children a continent away from all she knew. Another test of her character. She took jobs: TV presenter to truck driver. She fought to raise money to get herself and her children back to England. To be divorced in those times was difficult and she was left penniless by her ex-husband. Finally, after a train journey of nearly a thousand miles, she boarded the Stirling Castle and came home to England to her sister, Mary, in 1964. She worked as a shop girl and started training to be a beauty therapist. In 1967 she met a tall, witty and kind Dane who later married her and became a loving step-father to her children. They spent many fun and happy years with each other but money was always tight. He understood perfectly that her first priority was her children. She worked in the beauty clinic in the day and would work in restaurants at night. Though she worked all her waking hours, by the early 1980’s the piled up debts strained her marriage and nearly broke her. To her great regret, they separated. Nevertheless, she had done her utmost to give her children the best start in life; her daughter was a trainee Lloyds broker and her son was at medical school. Having endured so much hardship she finally entered the calm and uplifting part of her life. She met her husband, Ray Watts, in Sussex having been brought together by a shared adversity. He was a true gentleman and a devoted companion. They moved to a little rented cottage in Warwickshire – which they transformed into a beautiful, peaceful sanctuary for themselves. She loved gardening. She was Grannie Annie to her 5 Grandchildren (Rebecca, Bertie, Hugo, Edie and Theo) and he was Poppa Ray. To her deep sorrow, Ray died of lung cancer in 2007 and her own lung disease, diagnosed in 1998, was beginning to make its presence felt - but she was the strongest of women. She completed her BA (Hons) in English at the age of 71 – a hugely proud moment for her. She lived for and loved her family and would not hesitate to pack her oxygen cylinders into the car and be wherever she was needed. She danced until 3 am and would sing her favourite songs with a truly lovely voice. She never stopped until one sad day she did, having confronted it with a clear head, fighting to the last and in control. Both her daughter and son were with her during her final days in hospital. The loss of Annie is immeasurable and the gratitude for her life immense.