A great grandmother, who grew up in Exmouth and lived life to the full , has died aged 83. Trish Rayner - who when she lived in Exmouth was known as Trish Pascoe-Watson - devoted herself to her children

A great grandmother, who grew up in Exmouth and 'lived life to the full', has died aged 83.

Trish Rayner - who when she lived in Exmouth was known as Trish Pascoe-Watson - devoted herself to her children

Son Andy said: "My mum was very, very funny. Everything was black and white. There was no grey in life.

"When she got to 40, she believed she could say and do as she liked, and that didn't really change right up until the day she died. She had a very dry sense of humour.

"She had a great life and she loved it. She lived life to the full. She devoted her life to her kids, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

"I don't know where she got her strength from. She would brush adversity aside and carry on as though it was something in the way and she could get over it.

"When she knew she was dying, she accepted it was coming and made sure everybody understood and knew she loved them."

Born in Cardiff in 1926, the young Trish grew up in Exmouth - the town where she later met her beloved husband, James Rayner, who was a Royal Marine.

Mrs Rayner met her husband on July 23, 1950, and married him a month later, on August 23, 1950.

The couple's son Andy said: "My mum had a thing about uniforms. My dad was the one who pursued her. They met and my dad was going to be posted away so he asked her to marry him and marry him before he was posted so that's why they got married so quickly."

Mr and Mrs Rayner settled in Exmouth and had their first two children, Bill and Paul.

She worked as a GPO telephonist during the war, and later worked as a receptionist at the Watford Observer.

Because of the nature of Mr Rayner's job, the family was soon forced to leave Exmouth.

The family moved to barracks in Portsmouth, and Mrs Rayner gave birth to their son Andy while her husband was serving at sea.

A year later, in 1958, they returned to Exmouth where they stayed until 1961 when Mr Rayner was posted to Singapore.

After an eight-year stay, the family returned to England and moved to Deal, in Kent.

In 1969, Mr Rayner was posted to White City, and the family followed to make their home in Watford.

They moved to Portsmouth in 1987.

Mr Rayner died in 2003, aged 73.

Mrs Rayner leaves her four children, Andy, Bill, Paul and Kim, six grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Her funeral will be held at 1pm on November 11, at Portsmouth Crematorium. The family have requested family flowers only.