A POPULAR former ladies’ captain of Prestbury Golf Club who had a "love of life" has died aged 94.

Hilda Greenfield, a golfing stalwart in the village, and famed for her cocktail parties, passed away at the Countess of Chester Hospital on November 18.

She died after a short fight with illness, after contracting Clostridium Difficile.

The "sociable" great grandmother-of-three was well known in Prestbury for her work with the golf club and she kept in regular contact until her dementia worsened.

Graham Dilliway, 62, from Horsham, West Sussex, is one of Hilda’s three children.

He said: "She had a lot of personal strength and just loved life. My mother retained contact with Prestbury Golf Club right up until five years ago, and was an enthusiastic member of the past captains’ association, probably one of Prestbury’s most powerful mafia groups!"

Born in Ardwick, Manchester, in 1914, Hilda moved to Warrington at the age of six with her grandmother.

She married first husband John Harrison Pilliway in 1936 and moved to Clockhouse Farm, Mottram St Andrew, and later to Tempest Road in Alderley Edge while an employee for the North West Electricity Board in Cheadle Hulme. In 1953, she remarried to Frank Greenfield and worked with him at his garage, Martins, in Alderley Edge.

Hilda and Frank made a short journey to relocate in 1962, moving to White Oaks, Meadow Drive, Prestbury. It was here her passion for golf ignited.

By 1976, the grandmother-of-four was the women’s captain of Prestbury Golf Club and immersed herself in life there by organising many social functions and bridge games.

Graham said: "These were very happy times for my mother and Frank. They were seldom apart and the garden at White Oaks must have been the most cherished anywhere. Christmas morning cocktail parties became legendary."

A funeral service was held at Macclesfield Crematorium on Monday, December 1.

Graham added: "My mother lived to see the computer age, mobile phones and email. A remarkable achievement, especially for my mother who had cancer at mid-life, and telling her surgeon that she would come back to haunt him if he did not get her through it. This reflected her spirit and determination."