FAMILY and friends of a Kidderminster war hero who was honoured for six decades of volunteering will bid her a fond farewell later this month.

A full military funeral – featuring a horse drawn carriage, a bugler and standard bearers - will be held for Joyce Foxall and will take place at St Mary’s Church in Kidderminster on Wednesday, March 14 at 11am.

Mrs Foxall, who had three children and a son-in-law, four grandchildren and six great grandchildren, died peacefully at her Kidderminster home on Monday, February 19, at the age of 94.

She was awarded a British Citizen Award in 2016 for her services to volunteering and charitable giving throughout her life, which included her selling poppies for the Royal British Legion for more than 60 years.

She enlisted in the Woman’s Royal Naval Service in 1942, at the age of 19, and served as an air raid warden in London between 1941 and 1943.

One day, when she was on duty, she received the news that her own family home had been blasted by a bomb, resulting in it being uninhabitable.

After the war, London-born moved to Kidderminster where she lived for the rest of her life.

During her time in the Royal British Legion, she attended all funerals of local ex-service personnel known to her, wearing her medals and regalia.

Mrs Foxall, whose husband was a firefighter, also served as a volunteer for the fire service between 1948 and 1954.

Her other volunteering work saw her get involved in her local tenants’ neighbourhood group, running the Kidderminster Hospital coffee shop in the 1980s and helping to run a welfare day centre for elderly people, later known as the Kidderminster Age Concern Group, on a voluntary basis for five years.

Her granddaughter Kelly Payton, who will lead the funeral procession, said: “She will be greatly missed but she lived a life that was truly fulfilled.

“We shouldn’t mourn but celebrate her fantastic life. She was still very active with the RBL and last year was the first year she didn’t go out selling poppies.

“She was extremely proud of serving in the Royal Navy and received two medals for her service in the Second World War.”