Obituary: Church stalwart dies, aged 79

Rochdale-born Sister Betty, who spent much of her younger life working in the Rochdale telephone exchange, has died in an Oxfordshire convent, aged 79.
 
Sister Betty will be remembered by older members of the congregation at St Andrew's Church, Dearnley, Littleborough as Betty Bailey - a stalwart of that Church until, in her late 30s, she took her vows and joined the Church of England's Community of St Mary the Virgin (CSMV) in Wantage, Oxon.
 
In an obituary on the Community's website, Sister Deirdre Michael wrote: "Sister Betty was born and brought up in Rochdale and remained a Lancashire lass at heart to her dying day."
 
Apart from a two-year break Sister Betty worked for CSMV in various parts of South Africa from 1978 until 2002. Most of that time was spent at Holy Cross, where the Sisters cared for the disadvantaged and the elderly.
 
She later worked in three smaller CSMV houses, first in the Reef towns of Germiston and Brakpan and later in the township of Actonville.
 
While in South Africa she suffered serious injuries when involved in a crash with a lorry while cycling, but recovered to continue her work for CSMV among those in need.
 
Sister Deirdre Michael continued: "The accident changed her life, but the real Sister Betty was always there, calm, deliberate, quite definite in her ideas of right and wrong.
 
"In 1985, when two young South African women went to Holy Cross to test their vocation to the religious life, Sister Betty was appointed Novice Mistress. The story has it that she could be a dragon.
 
"The last five years of her life were spent in the infirmary wing of the convent at Wantage where she patiently learned to accept increasing infirmity."
 
The now-retired Reverend Derek Mottershead, who grew up at St Andrew's, Dearnley alongside the then Betty Bailey, said she was always destined to follow her faith.
 
"St Andrew's was her life," he added. "In 1953, when she was 22, the Community of the Resurrection at Mirfield sent us two priests, two sisters and a Mirfield Brother to spend two weeks in the parish on a mission and I'm sure that finally convinced her to take her vows."
 
Sister Betty was remembered in prayer at St Andrew's services over Christmas.
 
Her requiem will be at 9.30am on 4 January 2011 at the Community of St Mary the Virgin, Wantage, followed by burial in the convent grounds.