Bus driver, DJ, animal lover and mother of four, Lois Grizzle has been remembered as a nurturing role model with a taste for the finer things in life.

Known simply as “Ma” to her four children, six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren, Mrs Grizzle passed away at the age of 74.

“My mother loved her family and always made sure everyone was OK,” said Angela Rawlins, Mrs Grizzle’s youngest daughter.

“She would always listen and give her opinion. If she thought something wasn’t right, she would say, ‘Don’t worry with it’.”

Mrs Grizzle, who married Erlin Grizzle in 1984, had a variety of jobs as well as raising her children — including DJing at a nightclub, working as a supermarket cashier and bartending.

But she became best known on the island as a bus driver, a job she did for several decades until her retirement at the age of 65.

Ms Rawlins recalled that while her mother was in hospital, multiple staff members recognised her as the bus driver from their childhoods.

“They remembered her as the lady with all the gold. She had very expensive tastes,” Ms Rawlins said.

Mrs Grizzle lived in the same house for her entire life on Rec View Hill in Devonshire, formerly Dock Hill.

An avid technophile, she also adored animals — keeping an assortment of pets including three dogs, two African grey parrots and a cockatiel.

In her mother’s Royal Gazette obituary, Ms Rawlins asked for well-wishers to make donations to the SPCA Animal Shelter in Warwick instead of sending flowers.

“I knew she would have preferred that. She took on another family with her animals,” she said.

“She spoilt those pets — they won’t eat tinned chicken nowadays because they’re used to having it boiled.”

Ms Rawlins said she would remember her mother as a happy-go-lucky and wise woman.

“She always made sure her children were well taken care of,” she added. “She was a very giving and caring person.”