Sue Warman

Sue Warman

Sue Warman struggled against breast cancer for several years but died peacefully in the Churchill Hospital, Oxford.

Born in Long Hanborough and a pupil at Bartholomew School in Eynsham, she moved to work in London and later spent three years abroad with a hotel company in Australia.

But it was back in west Oxfordshire that she made her business mark, becoming sales director for the Armstrong Staff Bureau in the 1980s.

She left in 1992 and eventually went on to set up Warman Davies recruitment agency with Maryse Davies, only quitting after the onset of cancer.

Jeanette Wastie, managing director of Armstrong Appointments in Witney High Street, said: "She was certainly every inch an outgoing person who really enjoyed sales and dealing with people.

"She really worked hard against the disease and did not like doing nothing.

"Though she had given up work, she helped out on a voluntary basis with the town's Volunteer Link-Up service."

Mrs Warman, who lived in Quarry Road, Witney, met her husband Mick at a meeting of the Witney Motor Club, going on to become secretary for many years. She was also president of the Witney Speakers' Club, and only last year was one of the judges in the annual Youth Speaks competition.

In 1997 Mrs Warman was joyfully reunited with a daughter she had not seen for 30 years following a teenage pregnancy and adoption. Tina Costello, who lives in Philadelphia, USA, tracked down her mother using the Internet and a private investigator. She is expected to join the rest of the family, including Mrs Warman's two stepdaughters and four grandchildren, at the funeral on Friday, September 11, at Oxford Crematorium, at 12.45pm.