Mrs Dore, who died peacefully on May 24, helped set up the Waverley Day Centre as well as several other church and community groups over years spent serving the community.

She was the first Liberal elected to Kenilworth Urban District Council and later served on Warwickshire County Council, building a reputation among townspeople for solving their problems.

Derek Jakeman was a friend and fellow churchgoer at St John's church since moving to Kenilworth 50 years ago. He said: "She served people all her life. She was a lovely person.

"She had her principles. She was a Christian and felt she should be involved in the community more, and the only way of doing that was standing for the council. Nobody had a bad word for her. She was one of those councillors you could trust."

Born in Lytham, Lancashire in 1921, she and her husband Ted met while working for the civil service in north Wales during the Second World War and moved to Kenilworth in 1954.

Living in Rounds Hill, both attended St John's church, where Mrs Dore was a founder member of its young wives and mothers' union groups. Both Mr Jakeman and Mrs Dore's son Andrew, 58, remember the couple as a 'double act', with Mr Dore supporting his wife in her work as a councillor.

They both saw the need for a way to help elderly people in Kenilworth and set up the Kenilworth Community Care Council and its Waverley Day Centre, where a suite is named after her.

Mr Dore was a financial adviser to the Church of England's General Synod, and died suddenly while on church business in 1981. Following his death Mrs Dore retired from local politics, and moved to Seaton in Devon, where she remained active in church and community life.

Mrs Dore spent the final years of her life living with her son Andrew in Kent. She also leaves a daughter, Gillian and two grandchildren.

Despite moving away more than 25 years ago, Coun Ann Blacklock says many Kenilworth people still cite Mrs Dore as an example of a model councillor.

She said: "She was tireless in working to improve the quality of life for all her constituents. Many people in the town remember her and still talk about her, recalling especially her kindness, her warmth and her sympathetic approach to anyone who asked for her help."

The funeral is today at St Peter and St Paul's parish church in Edenbridge, Kent.