The family of a Royston woman have paid tribute to an ‘intelligent, tough lady’ with a beautiful smile and piercing blue eyes.

Evelyn Richardson was born on July 17, 1928 and until young adulthood lived in Queens Road.

A hard worker all her life, she left school at 14 and started work at the International Grocery Store.

She was married at 18 to Anthony Richardson and had her only child, Sandra, at 19. She was tragically widowed in 1963, at the age of 34 and never remarried.

A fashionista through and through, during the early 1960s she worked for Booth’s Fashions in the High Street. When the business changed ownership, she moved to Seeley’s Fashions further up the street, where she eventually became manager. Through hard work, and a little bit of luck, she became owner of Flairs Fashion shop on the corner of Angel Pavement.

Daughter Sandra recalls: “An avid ballroom dancer, she would work from nine to five and then dance late into the night, five nights a week.”

In 1968 she became a grandmother and by the time she was 45 in 1973, she had three granddaughters, who were the loves of her life.

Later on in her life, she took a different career path and after gaining a qualification in caring for the aged, she worked at Richard Cox House for almost 10 years.

At the age of 64, her first great-granddaughter was born and the next three years saw the addition of three great-grandsons. Sandra added: “Her love for her family was so great that in 1996, at the age of 67, Evelyn packed up everything she owned, left her life-long friends behind and moved to Canada to join her expanding family.”

By the time she was 77, she had three great-granddaughters and four great-grandsons. Evelyn dealt with multiple ailments over her lifetime, including two battles with two different types of cancer in the late 1990s. During the past few years she had a number of minor health issues but she continued to fight.

Evelyn, who passed away on May 22, leaves behind her loving family – her daughter Sandra, her three granddaughters Nickie Amanda and Claire and seven greatgrandchildren – Rebecca, Jordan, Mitch, Chris, Rachel, Kaitlyn and Troy – and many dear friends.