Care home plea over real life Eleanor Rigby

Staff at a care home have issued a plea for mourners to attend the funeral of a real life Eleanor Rigby. Myrtle Windle, 84, spent the last 18 months of her life at a home in Wiltshire but never received any visitors. The former bus conductor and dairy worker, who was once married but had no children, died 10 days ago and no friends or relatives have been traced.

Andrea Cole, a member of staff who is officially Mrs Windles next of kin, and a priest are the only people currently expected to attend her funeral. The case has been compared to the lonely figure of Eleanor Rigby from the 1966 Beatles hit who, according to the song: Died in the church and was buried along with her name. Nobody came.

Mrs Cole is appealing for friends or members of Mrs Windles family who may have lost touch and not realise that she had died to contact her at Sampford Care Home near Melksham, Wilts. Mrs Windle, whose maiden name was Ayles, lived most of her life in Trowbridge, Wilts, where she worked as a bus conductor and later for Unigate dairies. She was married to a man called Horace Windle but they separated without having any children.



Among her few possessions were some photographs of her as a younger woman, including one posing with colleagues from the buses. "She was great fun and that's why it's so grossly unfair no one visited or cared for her," said Mrs Cole.

"She had an ex-husband but we don't even know if he is still alive because they weren't in touch. She was a very lonely lady - we were all she had." She added: "At the moment I'm officially her next of kin because there is no one else.

"Once the coroner has come back to us I will be responsible for registering the death and arranging the funeral. But at the moment only I and maybe some care home staff will be attending."