A FORMER Lord Mayor who had a passion for city life and attended civic events well into her 90s, has died aged 98.

Queenie Hamilton, the city's Lord Mayor in 1990-91 served as a city councillor for two decades.

In her latter years she became an active member of the Oxfordshire Pensioners' Action Group and was heavily involved in the city's twinning links with Bonn and Leiden.

Along with her husband, also a Lord Mayor of Oxford, she founded the Swiss-based European Friendship Society, and the couple hosted lodgers and vulnerable people at their Headington home for many years.

An artistic lady, she taught ballroom dancing to soldiers stationed locally during the Second World War, played the guitar, mandolin and piano accordion, remaining a keen dancer into her 80s.

Queenie Lewingdon Hamilton was born on September 15, 1918 to parents Edwin, a farmer and Dorothy Malin, a nurse.

The family had previously lived in Manor House at Brill but Queenie's early years were spent in the countryside around Abingdon, living in Sutton Courtenay and Little Wittenham.

She fondly remembered walking across fields to church and travelling by pony to Our Lady's Convent where she was educated.

Her hopes of going to university were dashed when her mother became ill and after finishing school she got a job as a trainee window-dresser at Oxford's department store Elliston & Cavell, now Debenhams.

Embracing her passion for the arts, she studied at Oxford's Further Education College and during the war taught ballroom dancing to the soldiers stationed locally.

Keen on sports, Queenie joined the local Conservative club as it had the best tennis facilities and in doing so she would meet her future husband John Hamilton, a northern man who was living in lodgings in Abingdon.

She left home in 1939 to marry John and the couple spent their early married life in a caravan in Hythe before moving into their first house in St Luke's Road, Cowley.

Their first child John was born in 1941 and they had two daughters Elizabeth, in 1953 and Catherine two years later.

She had a number of serious accidents over the years - she was knocked down by a car which caused her to lose hearing in one ear and fell down a mountain in Austria breaking her back.

Her hearing never recovered but she defied doctors who predicted she would never walk again.

Her strong Christian faith - she attended All Saints Church in Lime Walk - saw her through these tough times.

After John gave up work at his family painting and decorating firm following a heart attack in the 1950s, Queenie went to work for Robert Maxwell's Pergamon Press at Headington Hall.

Her passion for politics grew over the years and she was elected as city councillor for Headington Quarry in 1973, a role she would continue for more than two decades.

They both served as Lord Mayor of Oxford, Queenie in 1990-91 and John, much earlier in 1979-80.

Their daughter Liz said they befriended many people in their times of need, often making vulnerable people welcome at their home for months on end.

They were also founding members of the Swiss-based European Friendship Society which promoted peace and understanding in Europe.

Predeceased by her husband, who died in 1999 and her son John, she is survived by daughters Elizabeth and Catherine, her grandchildren Georgina, Sam, Patrick, John Edward and Alexandra and great-grandchildren Finlay and Benjamin.

Her funeral takes place today at noon at St Peter's Church in Upper Wolvercote, all are welcome.