A FORMER Mayoress of Kendal, campaigner and businesswoman has died, aged 90.

Ethelwyn 'Wyn' Newman was very well known throughout the town and had two spells as Mayoress, in 1973 and 1979, assisting her husband, Bert.

Mrs Newman was born in July 1926 to Thomas Henry and Florence Mary Dixon at Crooks Beck Farm, Ravenstonedale, where she would milk the cows from her early years.

During the Second World War, she joined the Women's Royal Naval Service near Glasgow. When home on leave in 1944, she met Sergeant Herbert 'Bert' Ernest Newman at a local dance. In 1945, the war finished for Mrs Newman and she married Bert in the December and the couple moved to Swindon.

However, in late 1950s the couple moved back to Crooks Beck Farm and in January 1951 had their only child, Colin.

When it looked as though the couple would both lose their jobs, aged 44, they decided to set up their own draper's shop on Finkle Street in Kendal. They declared at the time that it was their intention to retire at 60, a goal they were able to achieve.

Their son, Colin, said that this focused attitude was typical of both his mother and father.

"I had two parents where failure was not an option," he said. "If you failed at something it was just an event, it wasn't your whole life."

During her later years, after Bert had died from melanoma cancer in 1989 at the age of 63, Mrs Newman travelled extensively.

"She did a lot. She made her mind up to enjoy her life," Colin said. "She went to the Grand Prix, she sat with Schumacher. She went to music concerts - sometimes she was the eldest on the bus load of kids. On her 80th birthday she was riding her bicycle in the Czech Republic."

She also organised the annual senior citizen tea dance in Kendal, contributing hours of her time to raising more than £2,000 each year. It played a part in her winning the Wainwright Award, given annually by Kendal Town Council, at the age of 83.

"It's presented to somebody who has made an extra effort in the community for the good of others," Colin said. "It was the way she was made, basically."

After 15 years, she stepped down from the tea dance - prompting murmurs that she had got 'fed up' of the work. However, the 84-year-old simply wanted a rest and so wrote to The Westmorland Gazette to quash the rumour.

When she was not engaged in fundraising, the keen walker was lobbying for a footpath to be put in from Windermere Road to Plumgarths Roundabout. She was seen wandering that stretch of road so often, that many people knew her for that alone.

"She had an iron will - small but tough," Colin said. "She'd be about five stone and 4"10. A generous nature and her determination was legendary. A persistent and positive attitude."

Mrs Newman is survived by her son and two grandchildren. Her funeral service will take place today at Tebay Methodist Church, starting at 11.30am.