A “true Somerset girl” has been remembered for her dedication to her family and community.

Leila Joan Gooden was 80 years old when she passed away last Thursday.

The popular nurse, who worked at Lefroy House for more than 20 years, devoted much of her time outside of work to community projects in the West End, including the Brownies, the Somerset Brigade Band and the Salvation Army.

Her daughter, Marla Smith, led the tributes to a “loving mother” and a “doting grandmother”.

Mrs Smith said: “She was always concerned about her four children. She made sure they attended school and Sunday school, and were all involved in community activities.

“She would do anything to help others, especially her family, and had a very strong faith.”

Mrs Gooden and her three siblings, including her twin sister, Janet, grew up in the Ely’s Harbour area of Somerset.

At the age of 19, she moved to England to pursue nursing qualifications and met her first husband, Lawrence Young, while working in Bedfordshire.

The couple had three children, Josef, Bruce and Marla before their father was killed in a car crash in 1963.

Mrs Gooden later married John Gooden in Britain and the couple had a daughter, Alethia.

The family returned to Bermuda in 1970 when Mrs Gooden continued her work as a nurse and later joined Lefroy House.

“Growing up as identical twins in Somerset, my mother and my aunt got a lot of attention in the community,” Mrs Smith added.

“Everyone knew who they were and they had a very strong bond all the way through their lives.

“My grandfather worked in Dockyard and my mother grew up with a very strong sense of community, which she passed on to us.

“In 1970, we all came back to Bermuda because my mother was ready to return home.

“She had completed her nursing qualifications and had trained in midwifery and plastic surgery. My mother was a true Somerset girl. She did a great deal in the community and was a long-standing member of Somerset Cricket Club.

“A lot of people would have come across her through her nursing work and her time at Lefroy.

“But they would also have come into contact with her through the Girl Guides, the Somerset Brigade Band, the Salvation Army and other community initiatives.”

Ms Gooden’s funeral will be held today at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Somerset.

Felicity Lunn, who worked with Mrs Gooden as matron of Lefroy House, described her friend as “a wonderful lady”.

Mrs Lunn said: “She was an excellent nurse; always very efficient and very professional.

“Joan was always patient and caring and very warm. She was a good friend for more than 40 years — and we went through lots of ups and downs together, as you do with any job.

“She always provided great morale support, she was as steady as a rock.”