The life of great-great-grandmother Mary Bromley, a former Lady Mayoress of Oxford and magistrate, was celebrated by family and friends at a thanksgiving and funeral service.

Mrs Bromley, 90, whose maiden name was Grove, was married to a former Lord Mayor of Oxford, Percy Bromley, who worked as a printer for the Oxford Mail and The Oxford Times.

Born in Evesham, Worcestershire, Mrs Bromley, known as Betty, moved to Dover with her parents in the early 1920s.

There she met Percy Bromley, who worked for the Dover Advertiser.

The couple were married in 1928 and moved to Oxford a year later when Mr Bromley got a job with the Oxford Mail and The Oxford Times in 1929.

Mrs Bromley had worked as a jeweller in Dover, but once in Oxford she devoted herself to family life.

Later, she was an Oxford magistrate and supported her husband, a Labour councillor, with his mayoral duties in 1968-9.

She and her husband, who lived in Courtland Road, Rose Hill, had two sons, Ronald and Peter.

They had six grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and one great- great-granddaughter, Courtney Jade, now three.

Younger son Ronald said: "She was a fantastic, out-going lady. She supported the family marvellously. When she was the Lady Mayoress, she went to all the functions with my father.

"She was devoted to serving other people. The family was her life."

Mr Bromley died in 1986.

Mrs Bromley was active in helping the elderly residents at Rose Hill. Her family were often amused at her quips that she was "going to help my old people", many of whom were her own age.

Mrs Bromley, a keen churchgoer, was well known at St James Church, Cowley, where her funeral was held. She spent the last years of her live in Iffley House old people's home.