Former junior and middle school head teacher Margaret Campbell has died suddenly at the age of 84.
Mrs Campbell collapsed in hospital last Wednesday (23 March) having arrived to collect her husband Clive after his hip operation.
She was a formidable and much-loved headmistress at Hangleton Junior School from 1974 to 1985.
The school, in Dale View, Hove, was also known as Hangleton Middle School towards the end of her time as head teacher.
Deputy head Ann Bolton, who joined the school in 1979 and retires next Wednesday, paid tribute to Mrs Campbell.
She said: “She was such a character and she was so dynamic.
“She was still teaching German at night school.
“She used to teach at Warden Park in Haywards Heath after she retired until she was in her seventies and then she moved into adult education.
“What’s so sad for me is that all the old teachers have a group called the Hangleton Has-Beens and they get together for lunches.
“When I told her that I was retiring, I said I wanted to be interviewed for acceptance into the Hangleton Has-Beens.
“We are having a tea party after school for my retirement on Tuesday and she said: ‘I will be delighted to be there and I’ll bring the interview questions with me.’”
Miss Bolton will represent the school at the funeral, along with former head Terry Clarke, who took over from Mrs Campbell and retired five years ago.
Derek Vine, a former deputy head, and his wife Caryl, a teacher at the school, long-serving teacher Jane Button and retired teacher Steve Bell will also attend.
Her family said that she had “a life lived to the full and devoted to family and education”. They said: “She will be sadly missed but fondly and vividly remembered by all who knew her.”
The funeral is being held at the North Chapel at Woodvale Crematorium, Brighton, at 12.45pm on Thursday 7 April.
Mrs Campbell leaves a husband, Clive, two children, Barbara and Enid, three grandchildren Emily, Hannah and Alex, and four great-grandchildren, Edie, Finlay, Martha and Leila.
The family have requested family flowers only with donations instead to the Hangleton Parents, Teachers and Friends Association or the Hangleton Band.
