A CROSS HILLS woman who was a founding member of a women's choir has died, aged 79.

Elizabeth Mitchell, who was known as Betty, died in Airedale Hospital earlier this month. She had been unwell for more than three years with an illness which developed into leukaemia.

She and her late husband John had five children – three sons and two daughters.

Mrs Mitchell was one of the six original members of the Cobbydale Singers, which was first set up in 1994. Her daughter Corinne Hartley still sings with this group.

Corinne said: "Nothing fazed her, she was always happy and cheerful. She was loving and caring and had loads of friends. She was one in a million."

Choir leader and fellow founding member Elaine Isherwood said: "We have just celebrated our 20th year, and even though Betty was ill she still managed to sing at our 20th anniversary event. We were delighted with that.

"She was a lovely lady with a wicked sense of humour who used to make us all laugh. Sometimes in rehearsals we were laughing more than we were rehearsing!

"We are very sad, and Betty will be missed by the choir.

"She was a soprano and had an absolutely lovely voice. She also used to be a singer with Keighley Vocal Union for at least 10 years."

Mrs Mitchell was born in Keighley. She worked as a burler and mender at Bairstow's Mill then as a dinner lady at South Craven School. She was also a care assistant at Currergate Nursing Home, in Steeton.

She married in 1958. Her husband, John, was a talented singer, and a member of Keighley Vocal Union and Steeton Male Voice Choir. He died in 2004.

Corinne said: "My dad was a very good artist, and after he died my mum started going to art class every Thursday. She ended up churning out hundreds of watercolour paintings. It was a skill we'd never even known she had."

Members of the Cobbydale Singers were due to perform at a celebration of Mrs Mitchell's life in South Craven Baptist Church on Tuesday.