AT the age of 91, Edna Margaret Harris was the oldest person born and still living at Zeal Monachorum. She had been born in May, 1926 at Nymphayes.

Mrs Harris died last month at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital after a short illness. Zeal Parish Church was packed for her funeral service last Friday, taken by Preb Anthony Geering.

The only daughter of Frank and Margaret Vicary, she had a brother Reg. Baptised in Zeal parish church, Edna went to school in Zeal and then North Tawton.

Sadly Edna’s father died when she was a child and when she was 18, her brother died. Edna and her mother worked at Higher Weeke for her uncle while he farmed Nymphayes.

Edna had joined the YFC, met and in 1950 married Ken Harris from Ward Farm, Winkleigh. Together they continued to farm Nymphayes where her mother lived until her death in 1979.

They had two children - Margaret and John. In 1982 they moved to their new bungalow at Westhayes but four years later Ken died and, with the help of her daughter, Edna continued to live at the bungalow enjoying the garden especially.

She had enjoyed her life of farming, rearing ducks, geese and poultry, the calves, helping with the cows and more.

Enda had also enjoyed being part of the village, the Women’s Institute and skittles, whist drives and the Waie Inn Luncheon Club.

She had been a member of the Parochial Church Council at Zeal for 60 years, doing the flowers for the window by the pulpit ever since Sunday School.

Mr Geering said that Edna had been a very independent person enjoying knitting and other handicrafts, entering the village produce show, baking for many fundraising events, especially the church fetes.

Edna was proud of her family, her two grandsons Jeffery and Andrew, and delighted in them all sitting around the table for a meal.

Donations in lieu of flowers were for Cancer Research and may be made through the funeral directors C Burrows and Son, Hawthorns, Coldridge EX17 6AX.

Sue Read