FAMILIES in Touch have been urged to line the streets tomorrow (Friday) to say their final farewells to a community stalwart.

Agnes Matthews, 83, better known as 'Mrs M' or 'Nan Matthews', was a pillar of her community for more than 50 years but sadly died last Thursday from cancer.

With only six mourners allowed to attend her funeral, her family have arranged for the hearse to pass through the Dunfermline neighbourhood on her final journey for the families whose lives she touched.

Mrs Matthews worked for Fife Council for more than 50 years and only finally retired last year!

Her many roles included school cleaner, janitor at Woodmill High and most recently she was the lollipop lady for Touch Primary School for 16 years.

Mrs M was also pivotal in making the Dunfermline Gala what it is today after a committee she helped set up took over to make sure it would keep going in the 1970s.

She was a passionate member of the Labour party and a union rep and also continued to be a big part of the community as a member of the Abbeyview Tryst Community Centre until recent months.

Her daughter, Janetta McGuire, told the Press: "Her first name was Agnes but nobody was allowed to call her that because she hated it!

"My mum and dad, Charlie, were originally from Renfrewshire but moved over to Dunfermline over 50 years ago and she was still in the same house when she passed away.

"She absolutely loved being part of the community here and would always find something to do!

"She only stopped being a lollipop lady because she really struggled to hold the stick after undergoing a mastectomy caused by breast cancer, otherwise she still would have been doing it!

"The gala is what it is today because she set up a committee to keep it going. It used to be run by the schools and the council but they ran out of money.

"Even though she wasn't from Dunfermline, she thought it was brilliant and too important for the community, and still last year she was there waving her flag at the parade!

"When she retired as a janitor she had one weekend off then she was back to start as a lollipop lady.

"Most recently, she helped at the Abbeyview community centre twice a week as a cook.

"She said she was going to help the older folk but she was probably the oldest person there!"

Such was her popularity in Touch that a Facebook post about her death has been shared more than 400 times!

She leaves behind her three daughters and 10 grandchildren who want to give her a fitting tribute by asking the community to line the streets in her honour.

Janetta added: "The amount of messages we received has been overwhelming – it's clear that the care she had for the community passed on to everyone.

"She had a long and fulfilled life and it's such a shame that more people can't attend her funeral.

"Even her grandchildren can't go and that's just been really terrible – they feel like they can't mourn for her properly.

"But instead of all this sadness, we thought can we celebrate her life, and we can still do it even if it's not in the normal way."

Mrs Matthews' funeral will take place tomorrow (Friday) and a hearse will be in Fodbank View at 10.15am.

The driver will leave Fodbank View, then drive round Touch, past Touch Primary School. The hearse will then come out of Touch onto Woodmill Road, up Shields Road, past Woodmill High School, onto Allan Crescent into Abbeyview, past the shops, and community centre, then left along past the Tryst Centre, out at Trondheim onto Linburn Road, and along to the crematorium.