NANCY Johnson, who has died aged 86, spent many years of her life as a voluntary worker in Oxford, helping elderly and disabled people.

She was particularly popular at lunches at Corpus Christi Church at Headington, where she became known as the ‘pudding queen’, providing desserts for up to 30 people.

Mrs Johnson was born in July 1933 and grew up at the family home in Marston Road, Oxford, with parents Olive and Reginald Lee.

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The arrival of a daughter after three sons saw Mr Lee knocking on neighbours’ doors, saying ‘we’ve got a little girl’, such was his excitement.

Helping others began from the age of eight for the young Nancy after her mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Some days, she would go to school for registration, walk home to do household chores or shopping for her mother, then return to school at the end of the day so she was not missed.

After leaving school, she worked at Rose’s chemist in East Oxford. George ‘Johnny’ Johnson bought Brylcreem there for his hair, asked for a date and became her husband in September 1952.

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In the 1960s, she joined Marks & Spencer in Oxford, first in the food department, later in the offices, and worked there for more than 25 years.

Meanwhile, Mr and Mrs Johnson moved from Marston to Woodstock and then to a house with a large garden in Quarry Road, Headington. Later, they achieved their dream of building a bungalow in the garden.

After retiring, Mrs Johnson helped the elderly and disabled at Ritchie Russell House at the Churchill Hospital and later at the Oxford Centre for Enablement on the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre site at Headington.

Daughters Elaine Hall and Christina Baker recall: “She loved volunteering - she did cake baking with clients, ran the cake stall at the summer fayre, and helped with feeding, talking, listening and going on holiday with them.”

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Later, she joined the team providing lunches at Corpus Christi Church at Headington, where she worshipped for more than 50 years.

The puddings she provided every fortnight were particularly popular.

For the last 19 months of her life, she lived at The Close nursing home at Burcot, near Abingdon.

Mrs Johnson, whose husband died in 2004, leaves her two daughters, grandchildren Louise, Katie and Dan and great grandchildren Eve, James and Martha.

After a service at Corpus Christi Church she was buried with her husband at Headington cemetery.