ONE of the original team behind Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival, a teaching assistant at the village school, gardener and keen artist, Julia Queen has died at the age of 84.

Julia, who was born in the south, had attended the Sorbonne University in Paris and had been an air stewardess, moved to Kettlewell with her husband, Geoffrey Queen, in the late 1980s where she embraced village life. Her determination, cheerful smile and lovely character will be missed by her family, friends and Kettlewell residents.

Born in Edgware, Middlesex in April, 1939, she attended schools in North London and later, Cripplegate Secretarial College in the City. In 1958 she took a job as a secretary at the London School of Economics and then joined solicitors Matthew Matthew in Lincoln’s Inn Fields.

Seeking a more challenging occupation she went to Paris and took a job as an au pair to the wealthy Barthelemy family and enrolled at the Sorbonne University.

Julia returned in 1961 to join BEA as a flight clerk and progressed to a stewardess with BOAC, flying routes to the Far East and Africa, sometimes on the infamous Comet aeroplanes.

Her first marriage produced daughter Lisa and son Lance and she returned to a desk job with Air Canada, managing perfectly well without computers.

In 1976 she joined the family electrical retailer H. Norman Davis in Mill Hill one of the first companies in the country to sell or hire TV sets.

In 1987 she married Yorkshireman Geoffrey Queen, a senior Civil Engineer with British Rail and, on his retirement, moved to Kettlewell, in Wharfedale, originally on a two year trial.

Despite the new surroundings, she entered fully into village life pursuing her passion for gardening with plots at both church and village hall, secretary to the horticultural society, teaching assistant at Kettlewell School and a very active member of the early Scarecrow Festival serving as treasurer, merchandise procurer, stall worker and trail sheet artist.

Never wanting to be centre stage, she was a competent and creative stage manager for many village shows.

Julia had an interest in art throughout her life having attended numerous art classes and she was an active member of Buckden Art Group, exhibiting many of her own water colours and possessing a talent she never really accepted herself.

In 2020 she was diagnosed with Myleoma and, though controlled with chemotherapy, she later developed a colon cancer requiring major surgery and, recently, an incurable lung cancer finally ended her life after a three year battle, bravely borne.

Julia, the dearly loved wife of Geoffrey and a much loved mother and grandma, died peacefully at home in Kettlewell on November 11. A private family only cremation will be held in Skipton at the end of November followed in the New Year by a service of thanksgiving in St Mary’s Church, Kettlewell.