A NAVAL Wren who served in Malta and Britain during the Second World War has passed away.

Dorothy Pease, nee Kirk, was born in Leicester in 1920 and was the eldest of three children.

Dorothy went to the local grammar school on a scholarship until she was withdrawn by her parents, who needed her to work.

She became a clerk with Stead and Simpson but within a year had joined the Women’s Royal Naval Service, eventually rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer.

While stationed in Swansea in 1943 she met her future husband Len Pease, who also rose through the naval ranks to become an officer.

The couple were married within a year and served together in Malta for a time before Dorothy returned to Leicester to have their first child, Christopher.

Len was later posted to Scotland when their second child Hilary was born while their third child Gillian was born in Weymouth after the family moved to the town in 1957 for his next posting.

Len left the Navy in 1960 and together with Dorothy opened a grocery shop at Downclose in Wyke Regis.

Their youngest child Jonathan was born in 1962 but died within a year due to a disability.

Dorothy’s parents, her brother Frank and his family also relocated to Weymouth in later years.

The couple then sold their shop and moved to new premises in Radipole Lane.

Len remained in the grocery business for a few years, and later became the bursar of Weymouth Grammar School.

Dorothy suffered a serious brain haemorrhage that almost claimed her life in 1977 but later recovered and returned to a part-time job she had with the Dorset Youth Service.

The couple moved to Clearmount Road in Wyke Regis in 1983 and owned a beachside hut on Portland.

Len passed away after suffering a heart attack in 1989.

Dorothy’s eldest son Chris, who now lives in Cornwall with his family, said his mother found comfort at this time with close friends and family in Weymouth.

After sustaining a fractured wrist in1995, Dorothy moved to sheltered accommodation in Devenish Close but, by 2005, was finding it increasingly difficult to take care of herself.

She moved to a residential home in Cornwall to be close to her son Chris and his family and passed away aged 89.

Dorothy had outlived Gillian, who died in September 2006, four months after her mother’s move.

Chris described his mother as ‘very natural and caring’ with a quirky sense of humour and an aptitude for creative writing as well as arts and crafts.