Dedicated Bournemouth nurse, Debbie Doughty, has died at the age of 60.

Deborah Anne Kerley was born in Bournemouth to parents Kenneth and Philomena Kerley. She was their first daughter after Paul, and older sister to Mark, Tracy, Laura, Philip and Lisa, and attended Christ the King Primary School and then St Thomas More School.

"On leaving school she worked locally with an aim to start nurse training when she discovered she was pregnant with me," said her eldest daughter Emma King.

Deborah, better known as Debbie, married Murrey King in 1977, and Emma arrived the following year. Soon after Abigail and then Laura were born but sadly Murrey and Deborah separated and were divorced in the early 1980s.

"Mum pursued her desire to succeed in the nursing profession despite all obstacles of being a single parent, having a low income and later pregnant with her fourth child, Hannah. She met Wayne Doughty through mutual friends and they quickly fell in love and Hannah was born in 1994. They married in July 1999," said Emma.

Debbie began her career in nursing as a health care assistant in 1991 and then in 1992 she did her nurse training at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital until 1995 when she worked on Ward 2 at the hospital.

"In 2006 she was the deputy sister in the Accident and Emergency department and in 2009 she joined the Clinical Site team and was working there until March when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She was hoping to retire at the end of the year," said Emma.

A keen music fan, she stewarded at the Larmer Tree Festival for many years and also loved to travel with Wayne seeing America and much of Europe, and longed one day to visit Australia.

"Her role as nurse made her a remarkable figure and she helped and saved so many people in so many ways. Her caring, altruistic and absolute generosity made her an unforgettable person as a mother, friend, nurse, wife, grandmother, amongst many other attributes and roles. She will be sorely missed by so many," said Emma.

Debbie died at home, as was her wish, on December 5. A Requiem Mass will be held at The Church of The Annunciation, Bournemouth, on December 15 at 10.30am, followed by an interment at North Cemetery. Donations, if desired, for Cancer Research UK may be made to tapperfuneralservice.co.uk or sent to Alan Rice & Tapper Funeral Service, Wimborne Road, Bournemouth.