MANY people from the Crediton area and wider community will remember Enid Keast who passed away on December 18.

Enid Beryl Tufnell, the third daughter of Edgar and Constance Tufnell, was born on April 23, 1923.

She grew up in Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, along with her siblings, Gwen, Raymond and Avis.

At three months old Enid underwent surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital to remove a tumour on her spine; the operation was successful and the scar stayed with her for the rest of her life.

At the age of 11 Enid won a scholarship to Berkhampsted School for Girls, leaving with an exceptional list of academic qualifications.

Her first job was in the offices of LMS Railway. Nicknamed "Half-Pint" because she was so small, Enid made many lifelong friends.

She attended Berkhamsted Chapel, where her father was Choirmaster and her grandfather the Sunday School Superintendent.

Also, at this time, the family moved to Greenway, Berkhamsted, which her father had designed and named CEGRAE, made up of the initials of the family: Constance, Edgar, Gwen, Raymond, Avis and Enid.

During the Second World War, Enid "did her bit" by volunteering as a fire watcher - she always said that it was a good job she was never needed, as her task in the event of a fire would have been to climb a high fence with a bucket filled with water.

She helped out at the local NAAFI. Her parents offered hospitality to the troops and Enid had a number of boyfriends - British and American - at this time.

However, towards the end of the war, Enid’s sister - Avis - was engaged to Ken, a friend and colleague of Les Keast (they were both serving in the same regiment). Ken and Les were granted a short period of leave. With Les being a Cornishman, there was not enough time for him to return home, so Ken invited him to Avis’s home in Hertfordshire. This was how Enid and Les first met.

They corresponded for some time while Les was serving in India. On his return home he invited Enid for a holiday in Cornwall, where he proposed. They married on April 2, 1949 and honeymooned on the Isle of Wight.

After being demobbed, Les worked in London and he and Enid lived in a flat in Wembley.

When Enid was pregnant with Barbara, they moved in to Cegrae, where Barbara was born. Pamela was born three years later and Stephen four years after that - making Enid’s family complete. They all lived together with Enid’s mother, in the large property, which Les helped to keep up and he kept control of the extensive gardens.

When the children were young, Enid made many of their clothes, and in the evenings she worked for the ratings company, which worked out the TV viewing figures.

She joined the Townswomens’ Guild and was one of the founder members of Berkhamsted Music Makers, in which she sang and went on to play various instruments, raising money for local charities, and was also active in chapel events.

In 1964 Les was promoted to Collector of Taxes and moved to Exeter. He eventually found a suitable house to buy in Crediton and the family, including Enid’s mum, moved in, in December 1964.

Not one to sit still, Enid joined the local Toc H. Over the following years she served as Toc H Job Secretary, Programme Secretary and Chairman.

As Enid and a number of her friends suffered from arthritis (although it never stopped her going dancing with Les) they decided to form a branch of the Arthritis Research Campaign in Crediton. They raised thousands of pounds for arthritis research.

Enid and Les had a wonderful social life, which included attending many dinner dances associated with Sandford Football and Cricket Clubs and functions with the local Order of the Moose (of which Les was a member).

Over the years Enid worked for the Town Council, for Jackson and Co, as Secretary to the NFU Secretary and her final job was working part-time at Hoskin’s in Fordton.

When Les retired early on medical grounds he and Enid took the opportunity to travel. Their first trip was to stay with daughter Barbara, who had emigrated with her family to Perth, Australia.

Two more trips to Australia followed but just after returning in 1987, Enid suffered a massive heart attack.

With wonderful care from Les, Enid slowly recovered. But disaster struck again almost exactly a year later when Les had a heart attack and suddenly died.

This was obviously a huge blow but Enid gradually managed to take up the threads of her social life. She rejoined the Townswomens’ Guild, sang in the choir (including at the Royal Albert Hall) and once again became involved in committee work, only retiring from those duties in 2019.

At the age of 78 she took up water colour painting and also had a go at calligraphy, silk painting, photography, crochet, sewing and a number of other crafts.

She still loved to get out and about and 10 years after Les’s death she moved to Francis Court, which gave her greater access to the High Street.

Since the age of 10, Enid had a pen-friend in America; they had never met but Enid decided to travel over to see her.

This was even reported in the local newspaper.

She also continued to visit Barbara and her family in Australia, but Barbara sadly died from cancer in 2007.

After that Enid made another trip, this time with Stephen. After Stephen’s death, also from cancer in 2013, she made one last visit down under, travelling business class as she had done every trip after her 80th birthday.

Covid restrictions and a requirement for shielding meant Enid was unable to get out much, although there was a chance to have Sunday lunch with Pam and a usual game of Scrabble, which Enid usually won.

Sadly Enid suffered from a huge heart attack and survived for eight days, passing away on December 18 with Fleur her granddaughter holding her hand.

Enid is greatly missed by all of her large family and her many friends.

One tribute to her read: “She leaves us with many, many fabulous memories. She was loving, kind, clever, funny, wise, strong, stoic, determined and an extraordinary and amazing lady who could not see that she was anything special.”

Enid’s funeral service was held at the Exeter and Devon Crematorium on January 18 and the service was conducted by Chris Howe, Civil Funeral Celebrant.

Donations in Enid’s memory were accepted for the British Heart Foundation and the Arthritis Research Council by A White and Sons of Crediton.