A MUCH-loved former Warrington Guardian employee has died, aged 89.
Ida Plinston worked on the community desk at the paper for more than a decade from 1995.
She answered reader questions every week and helped hundreds of people to find vital information in the town before the internet came in.
Ida, who was married to George, had pneumonia and died on Thursday, November 14.
As well as her work at the Guardian, she worked at the Risley depot from 1947 until the early 1950s and Warrington Job Centre from 1974 to 1990 where she was a popular employee.
Warrington Guardian editor Hayley Smith said: "Ida will be fondly remembered by hundreds if not thousands of readers.
"Her picture was in the paper every week and she answered calls from readers or helped people who came into the office.
Ida
"It is easy to forget that the internet was not widely used in the 1990s, so Ida was a lifeline for people who wanted to know everything and anything about Warrington from when the emergency chemist was open to how to get in touch with the MP. She provided a vital service long before Google.
"She was a lovely, familiar face in the office and will be sadly missed."
Ida, originally from Orford, lived in Paddington and attended Oakwood Junior School and Warrington High School for Girls.
Ida as a child
Her son Rod said: "As a teenager her first job was for the Admiralty warship provisioning depot at Risley from 1947 until the early 1950s.
"Following a move to Padgate, she was a member of Padgate Church Mothers Union and a founder member and keen supporter of Padgate Film Society in the 1960s and 70s. She was always keen to maintain strong family ties to her many relatives scattered widely around England and overseas.
"She maintained a long-lasting pen-friendship with a girl of the same age in Illinois from 1941 until the last five years, with exchange visits after 35 years of friendship."
Sarah Harker, a friend and former colleague at the Warrington Guardian, said: “Ida had an outlook on life that belied her years. She was elegant, intelligent and kind, with a wonderful sense of humour.
“More than 18 years ago we bonded over our shared love of animals and Frank Sinatra, and a beautiful friendship blossomed.
“She loved hearing updates on her friends at the Guardian and I was so proud to call her my friend.
“She never lost that lovely, unique sparkle.”
Her funeral will take place at 10.30am on Thursday, December 5, at St Barnabas Church on Lovely Lane.
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