Gladys Joy Denton, a former nurse at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, has died at the age of 70 after a lifetime of community work.

Mrs Denton, a mother-of-five known to all as Joy, was well known in Blackbird Leys through her work with the elderly and young people.

The Seventh-Day Adventist lived in Field Avenue for much of her life after arriving from Jamaica in 1961, but later moved to Littlemore.

Mrs Denton, 70, who was separated from her husband Donald, died on April 25, a day after her daughter Beverley arrived from her home in Toronto, Canada, to see her in hospital.

Beverley said: "I stayed with her till 10pm that night. She was so happy. The next day she got up singing. She cheered everyone up in the ward.

"At 11am she had a headache and that was it - she went downhill.

"I feel she waited for me to arrive from Canada to see me. I was so happy she waited for me, otherwise I would have been devastated.

"I am really happy I made it to see her last smile."

Mrs Denton had worked at the hospital until a shoulder injury forced her to retire and her daughter said she had been helping other patients on the day she died.

More than 400 mourners attended Mrs Denton's funeral at the Holy Family Church in Cuddesdon Way, Blackbird Leys, on Friday.

Beverley, 49, said: "My mum had touched the lives of everyone that was in there.

"She had helped them all with something. She was like a missionary, bubbly, laughing and joking all the time - always cheerful and she did tons of community work. She looked after the elderly in the community."

Dolcie Obhiozele, a youth worker in Blackbird Leys, said: "She was somebody who would always go out of her way to help you."

Mrs Denton is survived by four of her five daughters, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild.