In 1994 my aunt Dorothy Stafford, who has died aged 88, went to help a group in Ruthin, north Wales, who were collecting aid to provide relief for the Balkan conflict. Two speakers from Women's Aid for Peace came to talk about their work, and the group decided to join the next trip. They had intended to fill one truck with supplies but ended up filling two. Extra drivers were needed, and Dorothy volunteered.
Dorothy drove trucks to Croatia several times in all conditions. Delayed at a freezing border by paperwork, she "did her little old lady act", shivered and asked falteringly whether we would be much longer. The official stamped our papers rapidly and we were off. She rather spoilt it when she was the one who drove the truck away.
She and her friend Elsie Bowyer formed the Welsh branch of Women's Aid for Peace and drove all over north Wales, talking to groups, especially Women's Institutes, collecting and sorting contributions. The people of Llandrillo, north Wales, proposed Dorothy and Elsie for an honour, and both were made MBE in 1999, the same year they were named North Wales women of the year.
Dorothy grew up in Oldham, Lancashire. Her father was a window cleaner and her mother did silver service for functions. Dorothy's first job was in a cotton mill. During the second world war, she worked in engineering. Then she trained as a nurse at Boundary Park general hospital (now Royal Oldham hospital), where she met Elsie and her friend Margaret Phillips.
Dorothy loved to work in surgery, but gave it up when it transpired that she was allergic to iodine. She then bought a nursing home with her brother Ken, but later returned to Boundary Park as third matron. From there, she became matron at a respite nursing home for children. Margaret joined her as a nurse and they made a great team.
When Elsie became very ill, Dorothy nursed her and they eventually moved to Llandrillo. She became a stalwart of the community, helping out in charity shops and with meals on wheels and a lunch club for the elderly, as well as working as a voluntary hospital driver. Her last voluntary work was as a "convenience access operator" on the community public lavatory cleaning rota. Dorothy and Elsie shared an interest in antiques and their hobby gradually grew into a business, with a weekend stall at Portobello Road in London and a shop in Llandrillo.
Dorothy is survived by me and her two great-nieces, Jo and Carly.