FORMER Rayleigh Town Council Lib Dem chairman Peggy Pearse has died at the age of 88.
Her funeral was held at Holy Trinity Church and conducted by the Rector of Rayleigh, the Rev Mike Lodge.
She was chairman of the town council in 2001/02.
During the Second World War, she served in the Army ending up as a member of the Military Police.
Well into middle age and while still in business with her husband, she studied accountancy through the Open University, achieving her qualifications in the 1980s.
Mrs Pearse moved to Rayleigh with her husband Christopher from London in the 1970s, but they continued in business until 1980.
Both became active members of the Liberal Party and Mrs Pearse served as membership secretary from 1982 until 2002.
From 1994 to 1998, she served as a Rochford district councillor and joined the newly formed Rayleigh Town Council in 1996, remaining a member until 2004. Following the death of her husband, she joined the Friends of Holy Trinity Church and served on the fundraising committee for six years.
At her funeral, former district and town council chairman Mike Handford paid tribute to her decades of public service to the town and local community.
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