Former amateur stage personality Shirley Shaw was well known for her voluntary work in the Colne Valley.

Shirley (nee Horncastle), who was 82, made her stage debut when she was just 14 with Marsden Methodist Operatic and Dramatic Society in 1949.

She went on to have a 10-year career with the society before retiring from the stage when she married Examiner reporter Mike Shaw and started a family in Linthwaite.

Brought up in Marsden , Shirley first appeared in My Lady Jennifer and took part in several plays before landing the title role in her first musical, No, No, Nanette only three years after making her debut.

She went on to figure in other musicals and, as a choir member and Sunday school teacher, produced children’s pantomimes.

Shirley bowed out of amateur productions on a high, playing the leading lady in the society’s 1958 version of Oklahoma!

She attended Linthwaite Methodist Church where she was once a member of the Young Wives Group and was chairman and a long-serving member of Linthwaite Ladies Guild. She was a former voluntary helper at Cowlersley Court Care Home.

Shirley was presented with a certificate of appreciation by the Royal British Legion for many years voluntary work as a Poppy Day seller.

The Poppy Appeal

Before her marriage, Shirley was a mender at John Edward Crowther in Marsden. She later worked for many years as caterer for the staff at Colne Valley High School.

She was a keen nature lover and birdwatcher, an avid reader and crossword solver and had a passionate love of gardening.

Shirley, who lived in Cowlersley , leaves husband Mike, a son Stephen, a daughter Julie, grandchildren Natalie and Jessica and great-grandson Lucas.

Mike said: “It was a wrench for Shirley when she gave up her amateur stage work because she was a complete natural both in straight plays and musicals. But she chose to devote herself to bringing up a family, a job which she did with great love and wisdom.

“Throughout our long life together she was always there to support me and our children, two grandchildren and great-grandson were a sheer delight to her.”

A funeral service will be held at 11.15am on Friday, March 9, at Huddersfield Crematorium.