George Airey of Kendal, former teacher, dies of cancer

George Airey, 62, who taught at Kirkbie Kendal School for nearly 30 years, died in Kendal on December 13.

At the school, she was a sociology and history teacher, and took on a number of extra roles including form tutor, head of 6th Form, and Deputy Head.

She was diagnosed with cancer in 2017, and given 2-3 years to live.

She retired from her teaching career in July 2018.

A friend, who would rather remain anonymous, said of her struggle with the disease: "She kept on defying all prognoses and survived for more than five years following initial diagnosis.

"Her friends feel that her positive attitude kept her going for so long.

"The rigours of her treatment never dampened her spirit.

"Just a few months ago she travelled to Botswana to see elephants in their natural habitats and Zimbabwe to take a helicopter ride above Victoria Falls.

George at Victoria Falls, earlier this year (Image: George Airey)

"In the Kendal area, everyone seemed to know her.

"She impacted on the lives of so many people, and had a magical quality in bringing people together and helping friendships form.

"The word most frequently used about George is 'inspirational'.

"George will be sadly missed by more people than you can imagine."

In her personal life, George married Andy Airey and they had one daughter Sophie.

The couple divorced when Sophie was four years old, although they stayed good friends.

George spent a lot of her free time farming with her long-term partner, Shorty, in Northumberland.

She and Andy co-parented Sophie, an oncology nurse in Edinburgh, who tragically took her own life in December 2018 aged 29 years old.

Andy achieved national recognition as one of the Three Dads Walking, after raising £1 million for young people’s suicide prevention charity Papyrus.

A Facebook post by The 3 Dads announcing George's passing has attracted hundreds of glowing tributes from her former pupils

Andy said George was a 'massive' supporter of their charity work, and that her own fundraising feats were substantial.

He said: "We were good friends, we spent a lot of time in each other’s company.

"George's brother Bill was, and is, a very good friend of mine.

"She was a very caring, massively thoughtful, and powerful woman.

"As a teacher, she cared so much about her pupils, and wanted them to make the best of their opportunities.

"We lost Sophie after George's diagnosis, and George has been a massive supporter of Papyrus.

 "In 2019 she walked the Camino de Compostela in northern Spain, and raised thousands off the back of that producing calendars, posters, and more.

"When we did the 3 dads walking, we actually stayed at George's as we came through Kendal, so I’m really pleased that Mike and Tim got the chance to get to know her.

George with the 3 Dads Walking (Image: Andy Airey)

"They saw her as a very kind, caring, and determined woman.

"She died the day after what would’ve been Soph's 33rd birthday, and a few days before the anniversary of Soph’s death.

"Christmas the last few years has been really challenging, but even that first year, after Sophie’s body was found on December 22, we decided not to cancel Christmas.

"It was incredibly hard, so we were happy to have got that first Christmas out the way, but it doesn’t make it any easier when it comes around to the next one.

"I know that George, today, would just tell you to get on with it, don't stop, she wouldn’t want you to be moping about and sitting at home.

"She filled her life with experiences and people, after her diagnosis - she kept on going right until the very end, which is a great example to us all."

George's brother Bill added: "It's hard for me to put into words how I feel.

"She was a remarkable woman, an amazing sister, and will be desperately missed by us all."

George's funeral will be on January 4 at 12.30 pm at Beetham Hall, and her  family have encouraged those wishing to attend to wear orange - George's favourite colour.