My mother, Aileen Dekker, who has died aged 76, was a teacher and organiser who continued to inspire others long after she retired.
She was born in Northenden, Manchester, to Margaret and Alf Gill. Both loved music, and Alf, who worked in a munitions factory, was a talented violinist. The eldest of three daughters, Aileen won a scholarship to Withington high school for girls (now Withington Girls' school) and studied English literature at Manchester University, where she met her husband, John Dekker, who later became a BBC current affairs producer.