Tributes paid to Chorley nun Sister Francis who has died aged 102

Sister Francis, born Kathleen Calderbank, died last Friday after a lifetime of dedication to God.

In February 2010, Sister Francis and Chorley MP Sir Lindsay Hoyle unveiled the Chorley Pals Memorial.

The unveiling was extremely personal for Sister Francis as the memorial includes her father, Chorley Pal Private 15845 Henry Calderbank, who was wounded on the Somme on July 1, 1916, only to be killed in action at Ypres in August the following year.

Steve Williams, who co-founded the Chorley Pals Memorial Trust with Sir Lindsay, said: “Everyone thought she was a lovely lady.

“She was a big advocate of the memorial and going to the battlefields long before I was. She went with myself three or four times and around 12 times herself.

"What a good innings she had.”

In 1934 Sister Francis became a nun with the Order of the Sisters of La Sagesse before returning to Gillibrand Hall in Chorley in 1946, where she cared for children with learning difficulties.

The funeral will be at St Joseph’s RC Church in Harpers Lane at 10am on Tuesday, December 4.

A spokesman from the Chorley Pals Memorial Trust has confirmed that a representative from the trust will be will be in attendance at the funeral.