A KENDAL born nurse dubbed 'Princess Diana' by her patients died 'peacefully' surrounded by her family, aged 69.

Joan April Powers was born on December 27, 1946 and began her life in South Lakeland, where she lived with parents George Whiteside and Winefride Whiteside and brother, Keith.

She attended Queen Katherine School and spent most of her youth outdoors playing on the fells, hills and rivers.

Mrs Powers went on to find her calling in nursing, training at the Royal Lancaster School of Nursing.

Not only did Joan have to deal with the intense pressures that came with psychiatric nursing, she was also a chaplain at a Methodist hospital, a prison chaplain and a hospice nurse.

Married to William Powers, with whom she raised three children and adopted another, Mrs Powers went on to live in Texas for 40 years after her time in Kendal.

She loved travelling, studying art, painting and was an avid reader with a 1,000 book home library. She especially enjoyed snorkelling and yachting in the Caribbean with her husband and close friends.

Mrs Powers also volunteered in her spare time, giving hours to the American Red Cross, Child Advocates San Antonio and offering counselling for veterans as well as to other organisations.

Her father served in the King’s Own Royal Border Regiment of the British Army and Mrs Powers published his collection of The Clarion, a prisoner of war newsletter of the British troops captured in Dunkirk in WWII, which was printed for five years during their captivity.

She also enjoyed writing poetry and wrote her own historical fiction novel on the adventures of King Arthur and the Green Knight.

Mrs Powers died on December 18, 2016. She is survived by her husband of 40 years, William L. Powers and her children, Keith K. Powers, Paul W. Powers, Jane E. W. Powers, and Jeremy Favor.