A popular community stalwart has passed away after 76 years of service.

Vera O'Malley, 99, wife of late former council chairman Robert O'Malley, died in her sleep at her Loughton home earlier this month.

Mrs O'Malley, a resident of Loughton since 1939, moved into the area after her mother Dolly Whitfield, purchased The Wheatsheaf pub in York Hill, Loughton, a few months prior to the beginning of the Second World War.

The mother-of-three met her husband at the family pub and worked there for six years while he fought in the war.

Throughout the 60s and 70s Mrs O’Malley, a stalwart of road safety, led the local Tufty club for under-fives and served on the Chigwell Local Safety Advisory Committee for a decade.

In March 2001 given the Epping Forest Citizen of the Year Award after her outstanding work and dedication in the community was recognised.

Her nomination read: "This remarkable history of 'community before self' from a very modest lady is still very much in evidence. Mrs O'Malley is the epitome of the volunteer and one of life's unsung heroes."

The long-time school governor at Alderton Infant and Junior Schools, Roding Valley High School and the former St Luke’s special needs school was also well known for raising more than £100,000 for Chigwell Riding Trust for Special Needs at Grange Farm in Chigwell.

Her daughter, Marnie O’Neill said: “mum led a wonderful life with my father and they attended dinners and dances every week.

“She is an incredible mother and was always there for us, she was someone that would do anything to help anyone else.

“Each Christmas she would call my brothers Michael and Graham and I and ask us to bring a spare gift to dinner because she would always have asked someone to join us if they didn’t have anywhere to go.

“We are so lucky to have such fond memories of a wonderful mother.

“It feels like the end of an era, she will be sorely missed by many.”

Friends and family are invited to Mrs O’Malley’s funeral which will take place at St Mary’s Church in Loughton on March 4 at 3pm.

The family ask that instead of flowers, donations be made to Chigwell Riding Trust for Special Needs.