Family and friends gathered this week to celebrate the life of a devoted mother and passionate advocate for the disabled community in Bermuda.

Ursula Patricia Dunlop, a former lance corporal in the Bermuda Regiment and proud majorette, died at the age of 63.

“She grew up just across the road from me on Angle Street,” said lifelong friend Dale Butler.

“She was a very strong-willed and sometimes abrasive person who alienated a lot of people because of what she said. She told it straight up.”

Mr Butler described Ms Dunlop as a woman who had two sides to her, but added that the good outshone the bad.

“She had a loving side to her as well,” he said. “You couldn’t deny the fact that she championed the cause of the disabled on a regular basis.

“She challenged government ministers to do better with the care and facilities provided and she frequently reminded everyone that in a split second you could be handicapped.”

Mr Butler said she was a devoted mother to her late daughter, Renee Dunlop, who at the time of her death was described as one of the most widely known members of the physically challenged community in Bermuda, and fought for her education.

“Renee was the love of her life,” he said. “She took care of that child almost single-handedly. She cherished and loved and cared for her.”

Ms Dunlop, of Devonshire, grew up as part of the Angle Street, Ewing Street and Court Street “family”, which she kept dear to her heart. A keen sportswoman, she was also a member of the Ex-Artillerymen’s Association, the Leopards Club and the West End Sailboat Club.

She was the daughter of the late Edith Barbara and Wakefield Dunlop and sister to Michael Dunlop, Wade Dunlop, Gordon Dunlop, Ricky Dunlop, Colin Dunlop, Joy Robinson and Bernice Godwin.

“Ursula’s priorities were her daughter Renee and her mother,” said Geraldine Lambert, the former principal of the Orange Valley School attended by Renee.

“She did not hesitate to express her thoughts, especially with regards to education, and it did not take much to set her off. However, I thank God that I was able to see beyond her facade.

“Ursula was an intelligent, loving and kind person who had some challenges, which we all do. She will be remembered as an advocate for children with multiple challenges.”

Ms Dunlop’s cousin, Shirley Lewis, said: “Ursula had her way but there was a big heart behind all of that. She has helped many people over the years one way or another and always said, ‘If I can help someone today then my life is not in vain’.”

Former Progressive Labour Party minister Neletha Butterfield attended Prospect Secondary School for Girls with Ms Dunlop and they became friends for life in the majorettes in the mid-1960s.

“We enjoyed having great fun after we marched in many parades and performed at fairs,” she said. “She was to be admired for her stature and dance movements as a majorette.”

She said her friend made a valuable contribution to the community by championing the cause of seniors and the physically challenged, as well as issues of the day and politics. She was also outspoken on talk shows.

“Ursula loved talk shows,” said childhood friend Penny-Lynn Paynter. “She was a regular caller, especially on the Shirley Dill radio talk show.

“If an issue arose, and even if she did not know you personally, she would be supporting you with her opinion of the situation through talk shows.

“She spoke passionately and with no nonsense.”

According to Ms Paynter, Ms Dunlop’s late uncle Arthur Wade Sr encouraged her to join the Bermuda Regiment and she was one of the first women to sign up as soon as women were accepted in the early 1980s, leaving as a lance corporal almost five years later.

“LCpl Dunlop was a very colourful and extremely vocal individual who took her responsibilities as a regimental policeman seriously,” Major Warren Furbert said. “She did not accept any back chat or disrespect from her subordinates. She was proud of ‘her Regiment’ — as she would affectionately refer to it — and could always be seen to support the Regiment even after her discharge in 1988.”

Ms Paynter, who put together a tribute that was read at a service for Ms Dunlop at the Salvation Army Citadel on Tuesday, said Ms Dunlop left one last message to her friends and family: “You brought sunshine into my life during these last few weeks.

“For this I say a warm thanks to wonderful you. Blessings be upon you, Ursula.”