A WOMAN who helped transform the Government's information website and was awarded an MBE for her work has died.

Sheenagh Reynolds was headhunted from Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council by central Government to work on 'directgov' after officials saw her work on the local council websites.

The 63-year-old was born in Uxbridge but moved to Appleton when she was a young girl and attended the John Mason school in Abingdon in 1968.

Her husband, Martin Reynolds, described her as a 'star' and said she was 'the best person I knew.'

He said: "Her full name is Sheenagh Teresa Anita Reynolds, so if you take the first letter of all her names you get star.

"And that is what she was, a complete star.

"She was always about helping people, she had time for everyone and loved to travel as well."

The couple met in 1972 when both worked for the city council and Mr Reynolds said he knew straight away that his wife was 'the one'.

He said: "When I met Sheenagh I knew she was the one, I could see that this girl could be anything she wanted to be.

"It is funny really we both said we would never get married or have children but we ended up doing both."

The pair married a year later at St Giles Registry Office and moved into their first home in Barton Road, Headington before moving to North Hinksey Lane in 1984.

Their two sons Matthew, born in 1980, and Sebastian, born in 1983, attended North Hinksey Primary School and the family made their final move to Hurst Rise Road in 1998.

During Mrs Reynolds' varied career from her first job in the city council's housing department in the early 1970s to working as assistant director for directgov.uk in 2003, she took numerous exams and qualifications.

Mr Reynolds said: "She loved to learn, she was always on a course and she had this amazing memory where she would be able to skim read a paragraph and retain the information.

"She had this real belief in technology

"But she was very humble and never liked to say how well she actually did in tests."

Mrs Reynolds took courses in construction, processes and materials and took a TOPS course in commerce and law, passed with distinction and landed herself a job as PA to the director of Kidlington Airport in 1974.

She also received a degree in IT from the Open University and was able to physically build a computer from scratch and was awarded an MBE for services to digital public services in 2013.

Outside of work she enjoyed running, sea kayaking and swimming and Mr Reynolds said they spent 36 years together travelling the world and exploring the UK.

Mrs Reynolds was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and spent four years battling the disease.

Mr Reynolds said: "She was formidable, there really is no other word to describe her zest for life.

"Our favourite saying was 'it is what it is' and really, you do your best every day. We were a team. We were rocks for each other. She was so kind."

Mrs Reynolds died at Sobell House on August 30.

The family will be hosting a celebration of her life, which friends and neighbours are invited to.

It will be held at the White Hart in Wytham on Friday, November 18 from noon to 6pm.

For details contact Mr Reynolds on: 07477443488