‘Bubbly and devoted’ Accrington dinner lady cared for vulnerable in refugee camp and dedicated life to children

Tributes have been made to a bubbly and devoted dinner lady who cared for the vulnerable in a refugee camp and dedicated her life to enriching the lives of children.

Jacqueline Lesley Tregartha from Accrington, who was affectionately known as Jackie, passed away peacefully due to metastatic gallbladder cancer at Royal Blackburn Hospital. The beloved former Mount Pleasant Primary School dinner lady was surrounded by her family before she passed away at the age of 68 on May 13.

In a joint statement, Jackie’s husband, Peter and her children said: “She was loving, caring, thoughtful, compassionate and endearing. She was very bubbly and had a smile on her face and she enjoyed life to the full.”

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Jackie moved to Accrington with her parents, Olive and John when she was two years old from their home in Plymouth and attended St Andrew’s Primary School in Oswaldtwistle. Peter married Jackie in August 1973 at St James’ Church, Church Kirk.

The former Rhyddings pupil took up part time work with her mother at Knowles Pickles in Accrington. She also worked at Little Tinkers Day Nursery in Accrington and in Asda’s restaurant in Accrington.

Jackie then worked at Town and Country Vets in Clayton-le-Moors as a cleaning assistant. The caring mother-of-three worked as a dinner lady at Mount Pleasant Primary School in Clayton-le-Moors until her retirement.

Peter worked in the military which meant he and Jackie moved from country to country. They moved to Germany on three occasions and relocated to Hong Kong in June 1987, where Jackie worked at a playgroup.

She also proudly volunteered at a Vietnamese refugee camp, helping the team with admin and sorting out clothing for them. The couple also lived in Northern Ireland in January 1990, where Jackie worked as a supervisor at the Prince of Wales playschool in Omagh.

Jackie had recovered from breast cancer in 2013 but the cancer grew back in her gallbladder in August last year. The grandmother-of-six went on numerous adventures with Peter and her in-laws, Pauline and Graham, including visiting different parts of Greece six times, Portugal where Jackie swam with the dolphins, The Norfolk Broads and Ayr in Scotland.

Peter and Jackie also travelled to the Norwegian Fjords on a cruise ship with their friends from Kent, Paul and Ann. Jackie enjoyed playing darts and went to play gala bingo in Blackburn with her sister, Elaine.

In one competition she won two tickets to see Only Fools and Horses the show in London. Jackie loved spending time with her grandchildren and she would take them on days out and do arts and crafts with them.

The couple have a small allotment and Jackie enjoyed tending to her flowers and growing vegetables. Jackie had seven brothers; Paul, Michael, Stephen, Phillip, Christopher, Allan and Neil and a sister called Elaine.

She will be dearly missed by her husband, Peter and children, Melanie, Carmen and Andrew, grandchildren, Courtney, Lewis, Caitlin, Hendrix, Kieran, Scarlett and Kirsten, Andrew’s wife, Katy and her great-grandchild, Edison.

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