DEDICATED community volunteer, musician and family matriarch Maureen McDadd died on her 85th birthday.

Born Maureen Fay Winifred Bourke in Harrow, London, on August 7 1930, she spent much of her life helping some of the most vulnerable people in society.

As a Samaritan, Maureen spent countless hours as a sympathetic, wise ear helping people at their lowest ebb. As a volunteer for Victim Support she offered guidance and hope to those who had suffered as a result of terrible crimes.

She did this alongside nurturing a family, being a churchwarden, participating in Neighbourhood Watch and indulging in her love of the piano.

For Maureen those talents and resilience were first developed after she moved with her family to Cheam, Surrey, at the age of five.

She had memories of sheltering from the air raids of World War II with older sisters Audrey and Sheila. They later all attended Sutton High School before Maureen left in 1947 to spend a year working on a dairy farm.

A talented scientist, Maureen then went on to gain a BSc degree from the University of Reading which led to her eventually being placed in charge of Cadbury’s world famous laboratory in Bournville.

In 1956 Maureen married surveyor Alan McDadd after a three-month whirlwind romance. They went onto have children Stephen, Joanna, Matthew and Michael.

The family spent time living in central Paris during the 1970s and after returning to the UK lived in a happy house full of animals, including dogs, hamsters, terrapins and even a stick insect.

She became passionate about helping others, joining the Samaritans, befriending elderly people in sheltered accommodation and visiting inmates at Wandsworth prison.

In 1979 Alan died of a heart attack aged just 49. Maureen never remarried.

It was in 1987 that she decided to move to Dorset, buying a house on Chester Road in Branksome Park. She became active at St Peter’s Church, becoming churchwarden, joined Neighbourhood Watch and Victim Support.

In 2007 Maureen moved to Parkstone Avenue, spending her later years continuing to indulge her passion for keeping her beloved pet dogs, classical music, gardening and going to the cinema with friends.

As well as leaving behind her children, she will be missed by grandchildren Emily, Lucy, Sean, Rachel, Joseph and her many friends throughout Dorset and the rest of the country.