A former Hollyfield School pupil has died in Canada.

Jennifer Gunner died at an Ontario hospital after a short illness on Monday, January 6 – about a week before her 75th birthday.

She was born in Tolworth in 1939 to parents Bill and Margaret Peers who lived in Raeburn Avenue, Surbiton, before her father joined the army in 1941.

Her and her siblings John and Anne were sent to Torquay in Devon to live with their grandparents during the war.

After the war the family had spells living in East Sheen, Kings Drive in Surbiton, followed by some time in Tolworth Rise before they settled in Frimley Road in Chessington.

Jennifer joined the Brownies and Girl Guides with her sister. They were both active members of the group that met at Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Church in Ewell Road.

She later got a job as a secretary at Price Waterhouse Coopers in central London and married husband Neil Gunner, then of Church Rise, Chessington, in 1960 at the church.

The couple moved into Idmiston Road, Worcester Park at first and later to Clayton Road in Chessington.

They then immigrated to Canada in 1965 but regularly visited family back home in England with their three children Mark, Simone and Russell.

The mother-of-three enjoyed travelling, tennis, walking and swimming as well as the company of friends.

Her brother John Peers, who now lives in Horsham, West Sussex, said: “Jenny was the happiest and kindest person anyone could meet, and spent most of life in Canada bringing up her family and doing charitable work in the local hospital.

“She will be very sadly missed by her family and everyone who ever knew her.”