Joy Ripley, who died peacefully at home, aged 88, was involved in many aspects of Wantage community life.

Mrs Ripley juggled motherhood with devoting her life to charitable causes in the Wantage community and beyond - particularly in the 1990s and early noughties.

A prominent member of Wantage Counselling Service in its early years, she underwent comprehensive training in various aspects of psychotherapy and was a dedicated counsellor for many years.

WCS remembers her as a ‘valued member who was a very exceptional woman’ and brought ‘immense value and wisdom’ to the service.

She was also chairman of Wantage Blind Club – which arranges outings and social events for the visually impaired. And in 2010 she became an honorary life member of Oxfordshire Association for the Blind.

Former director of OAB Colin Cure said: “She was a very kind and generous person and I always enjoyed her company. She was also always very supportive of OAB. I remember my trips to the Wantage Blind Club and her welcome to me. The club was always very cheerful and clearly well run by her and her helpers.

“She also often came along to OAB events and visited our resource centre from time to time. It was always a pleasure to see her and we both were keen to ensure a close link between our two organisations.”

From 1994-1999 Mrs Ripley was churchwarden of the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Wantage – a role which incorporated being a trustee for Robert Styles’ Almshouses on Newbury Street, Wantage. Father Paul Smith, vicar of St Michael and All Angels Church, in Abingdon, knew Mrs Ripley for more than 30 years.

He said: “As a faithful member of the church of Ss Peter and Paul, and as churchwarden, Mrs Ripley was exemplary. She brought dedication, care and huge wisdom to the role, which was much appreciated by everyone.”

Mrs Ripley was born Joy Cragg in Worthing, West Sussex, on November 15, 1932.

During the war she and her sister, Phillippa, had to bang on a stranger’s door to escape machine-gun fire from an enemy plane.

She went to Worthing Girls’ High School and was evacuated to Nottinghamshire in the early years of the Second World War.

After the war she attended Stoodley Knowle, Torquay – a clifftop convent school, overlooking the sea, which must have seemed a peaceful haven after the bombing raids over Worthing.

She studied botany and chemistry at Brighton Technical College and went on to work at British Industrial Solvents in London.

On Christmas Day 1955 she met Neville Ripley at a dinner party at The Beach Hotel in Littlehampton, near Worthing.

They married on September 15, 1956 at St Botolph’s Church, in Worthing. The couple’s first child, Guy, was born on January 2, 1962, followed by another son, Roger, on February 19, 1964. And on October 27, 1968, Mrs Ripley gave birth to their daughter, Elizabeth. The family moved to Grove, in 1963, where they often hosted visitors from across the globe - business associates of Mr Ripley, who was managing director of Penlon, an Abingdon-based medical firm.

The funeral is at the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Wantage, today at 1pm.

Mrs Ripley, who died on August 6, is survived by Guy, Roger and Elizabeth, and her grandchildren Tom and Flo. Her husband Neville died in 2000.

No flowers but donations, if desired, to Oxfordshire Association for the Blind at justgiving.com/oxaftb/Donate or to The October Club at justgiving.com/octoberclub or in the boxes available by the doors.