AN exceptional nurse who worked as a missionary in Africa has died at the age of 79.

Patricia Anne Drinkwater, who was known as Pat, was born in September 1933 at Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands.

She attended Sutton Coldfield High School and moved to North Devon in 1947 after her family bought a guest house in Woolacombe. After leaving Ilfracombe Grammar School Pat went to work at Lloyds Bank in Braunton.

In 1953 the family moved again to Castle Lane, opposite what is now Bournemouth School for Girls and Pat transferred to the Boscombe East branch of Lloyds Bank.

The family were keen churchgoers and became active members of Moordown Baptist Church where Pat was baptised on July 26, 1953.

She felt the call to nursing and began her training at Poole Hospital in 1957 before deciding to specialise in midwifery. In 1961 Pat moved to work at the Salvation Army’s Mothers’ Hospital in Hackney, East London, as a pupil midwife.

She qualified as a district midwife in December 1962. At that time the only hospital deliveries were first babies or complications.

In 1965 Pat went to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol to complete a neurology course before studying for her midwifery teaching diploma at Loveday Street Maternity Hospital in Birmingham where she was a member of the Northfield Baptist Church.

In July 1970 Pat offered her services to the Baptist Missionary Society in Africa, following in the footsteps of her father, who had spent about four years in Nyasaland (now Malawi) in the early 1920s.

While at Pimu, Zaire, Pat encountered many challenges, working with little equipment and in very basic conditions. However, she felt very privileged to share her faith.

Pat returned to England in 1973 to continue working in Birmingham.

Three years later she moved to Poole Maternity Hospital as a senior nursing officer in the special care baby unit, where she was highly regarded by the staff.

While Pat’s mother was in hospital her father suffered a stroke and passed away.

After her mother came to live with her in Poole, Pat bought a bungalow in Broadstone before moving to the Pottery Estate in Lower Parkstone.

Retirement in 1992 enabled Pat to spend more time working for West Cliff Baptist Church and the Baptist Missionary Society. She was a member of the General Committee of the BMS, and district representative, as well as church representative, being responsible for organising events including local conferences.

Pat was a church deacon and became church secretary and editor of the church magazine. She set up the Cornerstone group, arranging a fortnightly guest speaker.

At the age of 66 Pat married fellow deacon Derrick Drinkwater and the couple enjoyed 13 very happy years together. A wonderful wife and carer, Pat became an expert in making cards for every occasion.

Major heart surgery did not hamper Pat’s lifestyle and the couple enjoyed many holidays and continued their church work.

Derrick died in April this year at the age of 90, a loss which Pat found very hard to bear. Ten weeks later, on June 13, Pat died after a life of service to others.

Following cremation at Bournemouth Crematorium on July 1, a service of thanksgiving for Pat’s life was held at West Cliff Baptist Church.

She will be missed by her eight nieces and nephews, her sisters and brother-in-law, Derrick’s family as well as numerous friends and colleagues.