APRIL Maree Johnson, sometimes called the 'light of Rawlins Road' in Pewsey by her friends and family, died at the age of 62 on December 28.

She was born in Swindon on April 8, 1954, to parents Kit and Olden Johnson, and at the age of 16 months the family moved to California as her dad was in the US Air Force.

After a three-year stint in America, the family moved to Pewsey for good in 1958.

After leaving school she went on to work at local electrical shop, Noads, a glove factory in Pewsey, the Pelham Puppets factory in Marlborough and Bellfruit, a company that installed slot machines and duke boxes.

However, her real love was for singing. Throughout her teenage years, Ms Johnson, who had four siblings, Bob, Klish, June and Julie, and then later two step-sisters, Jackie and Cheryl, sang at the Pewsey Variety Concert and later went on to sing for a variety of different bands.

After singing regularly at the Brunel Rooms in Swindon, she joined a band called Smiley Mack, where she met and then married bass player Donald Underwood.

The pair were married for the best part of a decade and they had a daughter, Victoria, in 1981.

After the couple separated in the late 1980s, she began a relationship with Mark Anderson. Although they never married or lived together, they had a daughter called Georgina in 1991.

When Victoria turned nine, Ms Johnson, who lived in Rawlins Road, decided to start fostering and child minding and in 1994 she adopted Jessica.

She enjoyed taking day trips to the beach with her family and spending time with her family, which grew to to include three grandchildren, Kaylum, 10, Isabelle, five, and Olivia, three.

"She was described as a beautiful soul and I think that is spot on," said her sister June Goddard. "She was such a welcoming, kind and family-orientated person and we will miss her dearly."

Her funeral was at Pewsey's St John the Baptist Church on January 16 and donations went to New Life Special Care Babies.