A nurse who spent her career caring for others lost her life as a result of coronavirus.
Muriel Howard was 95 and a resident at Winters Park care home, Penrith.
Born and bred in the Penrith area, she grew up at Clifton and went to Clifton School.
Her father worked on the railway, so the family made a move to Tebay while she was still in primary school and then back to Clifton before eventually settling in Penrith, where she attended Brunswick Road school.
Muriel gained a scholarship to attend the grammar school and studied there until she was 16, after which she went to Station View to train as a nurse.
After her training, she moved to the Ethel Hedley children’s hospital in Windermere, where she would take the children down to the lake to watch the flying boats being tested.
A move to Preston Royal Infiimary followed, but during her time there, she contracted polio, which brought an end to her position there.
Once recovered, she returned to Station View, Penrith.
It was during this time that she met her future husband Harry at a village dance.
The couple married at St Andrew’s Church, Penrith, in 1948, and went on to have two children — Ivan and Peter, who died in 2013.
As Harry was a farm worker, the couple spent their early days together at Ling Stubbs Farm, then moved to Penruddock and then Newbiggin, Stainton.
Muriel began volunteering with the Red Cross as a first aider, then when they moved from Newbiggin to Langwathby, she began working at Penrith Cottage Hospital. The matron at Carlisle was so impressed with her work she put her forward to become a state registered nurse and she continued as an SEN until her retirement at Penrith, around the time the new hospital was built.
Outside of her work, Muriel loved knitting and handicrafts.
She made dolls for her grandchildren and also enjoyed baking and would often make jams, chutneys and Christmas puddings.
Muriel spent the last eight years of her life at Winters Park, after finding it too much of a struggle to manage on her own.
Her family praised the way in which the home dealt with the coronavirus outbreak there.
Son Ivan said his mother had been well looked after at the home.
“I think they have done a marvellous job of keeping the virus out for as long as they have,” he said.
Muriel is survived by Ivan, her brother Melville Black, of Penrith, grandchildren Adrienne and Martyn and great-grandchildren Ella, Warren, Natasha and Emily.
Richardson’s Funeral Directors, Penrith, had charge of the funeral arrangements.
