The late Katherine Milne (89) was a much-loved resident of Longstock who had led an interesting and eventful life.

Kat was one of a family of five children, all sent back to England for their education while her parents were living firstly in South America and then Nigeria.

At 16, she assumed total responsibility not only for her younger brother and sister but also their English home, deciding that a housekeeper was unnecessary.

She would despatch her siblings to school before cycling off to her own, returning to prepare meals and supervise homework.

Later, she kept house for her father in Nigeria until she married Malcolm in 1941.

Two years on, she found herself on a horrendous wartime journey from Natal, South Africa, to Nigeria, alone with her tiny baby, who caught dysentery, and with health problems of her own.

The trip took three weeks, on buses, trains and a wood-burning boat that needed frequent stops to take on fuel.

Malcolm's job in the Colonial Service meant moving home in Africa every three years or so, often to very different cultures, and Kat's ability to get on with everyone was invaluable, as was her knack of making the best of any situation.

There was much "official entertaining", especially when Malcolm was Commissioner of the British Cameroons, and Kat's skills were put to good use, her resourcefulness and good humour being particularly valued.

Throughout her life, Kat learned to improvise with what was available and even among the plenty of England nothing was wasted - why buy plant pots or labels, when there were yoghurt pots to hand?

In each home, she made herself a garden, often in ridiculously inhospitable places. At Kisumu, near Lake Victoria, she filled holes in the solid rock with soil washed off the car after trips into the bush. She continued gardening in England and many friends have plants propagated by her as reminders of a lovely person.

Kat played tennis to a high standard, winning many tournaments, and, at the age of 60, she became the West of Kenya ladies champion.

She continued playing until nearly 70, always on hard surfaces, doing her hips no good so that they both needed replacing.

Kat always supported her husband, Malcolm, even agreeing to fly on several occasions in his light aircraft back to England from Africa, with the added terror of being shot at over hostile territory.

On their return to England, Kat and Malcolm settled in Longstock, near their son and his family, becoming valued members of the community. Kat joined the garden club and the WI, supporting village events.

The couple celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in 2001.

The church was packed for Kat's funeral and her granddaughter, Kate Milne, played Watching the Wheat, by J. Thomas, on her harp while the congregation reflected on the long life of a much-loved woman.