Our sincere condolences to the Waters family with the sad passing of Mary Duncan Waters on October 14th, aged 96. She was mother of John and Roger, grandmother to Harry, India and Jack, and great-grandmother to Oscar. She passed away peacefully, and is remembered with great affection by all who knew her.

Warren Dosanjh, who grew up in Cambridge alongside Roger and Syd (and runs walking tours of Cambridge), knew Mary Waters in the early 60s. "She was a strong supporter of CND and the Labour Party. Like many others I had grown up in a working class left-wing family. Like many other young people then, I wanted to make my voice felt in the outside world, so I joined the Young Socialists. My parent's house had as far as I can remember always been a Labour committee room where they appraised the the fight on a General Election day. And, from when I could first ride a bike, I had always been involved in the collecting of poll station predictions and bringing them speedily back to my home. Mrs Waters lived in Rock Road then and for the rest of her life. This is where I regularly went for local Socialist meetings to talk about canvassing,leafleting, and the support of local candidates and visiting Labour MPs.

"She was always welcoming and hospitable - she made you feel at home. She stood for old-fashioned values, equality, and justice. What nowadays Blairites refer to as 'Old Labour'. She, like so many others, was instrumental in teaching me the merits of reasoned discussion and not anarchy. It hasn't always worked, but I'd like to think that she played a little part in pushing me in the right direction. Who knows? A very nice lady."