Tributes as one of Sheffield's oldest residents and church stalwart dies days after 106th birthday

Mary Barbara Charles, moved up to Sheffield after World War II, and was well known for her work with patients at both Middlewood Hospital and the Northern General Hospital.

She celebrated her 106th birthday on February 20, but sadly died on March 4, after a short illness.

Mrs Charles was brought up in London, and was training to be a medical social worker when the war started in 1939. She spent the war working as a fire warden, spotting incendiary bombs from the top of a building.

She told her family of memories of sheltering under tables, and in the London tube stations.

After meeting her husband, Frank Stanley Charles, who was from Sheffield, the couple settled in Sheffield, first in Crookes and then at Park Avenue, near Endcliffe Park. Mr Charles, who had served in the army in North Africa, was well known as the manager of the Midland Bank’s Broomhill branch.

After bringing up five children, she returned to work as a medical social worker in Sheffield, working with patients from Middlewood and the Northern General.

“Mum was part of the interface between people being in hospital and being at home.” said her son, Andrew. “It was a bit like care in the community before it become a well known thing.”

She was also known locally for her involvement with the Inner Wheel, a club for woman similar to the Rotary Club, and her local methodist church. She was involved with Endcliffe Methodist Church, later moving to St Andrew’s Methodist Church on Psalter Lane.

Son Andrew said his mum had lived independently to the end at her own home. She was still driving until she was aged 100, when she stopped because she was concerned over her eyesight.

He said: “She was known for her integrity, and people would often seek her opinion for that reason.”

Mrs Charles’s funeral will be at Hutcliffe Wood crematorium, at 12.30pm on Monday, April 7, followed by a service of thanksgiving at St Andrew’s Psalter Lane.

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