For more than 40 years, Jenny Hunt was the lifeblood of dance in New Malden.

A devoted mother, grand-mother and great-grandmother, she was a friend to all she met and "was willing to do anything for anyone."

Sadly, the woman who ran the Jenny Hunt Pre-school Nursery and the Jenny Hunt Dancing School late into her 70s, died on July 14 at the age of 83 after a heroic fight with leukaemia.

Jenny was raised in London by her parents Leslie and Ethel (Essie) Mary and lived her extraordinarily productive life in the same street as her dance studio, until making her way across the

Atlantic to the USA upon her retirement at the age of 78.

Jenny is remembered by her students, many of whom would come from miles away, where she often taught more than one generation of the same family.

From pre-school students in the morning to their parents in the evening, Jenny was described by her son Michael as "the liveliest of teachers."

"Her friends and family will recall Jenny as always being the most active member of the family and willing to do anything for anyone, regardless of the time or place," he said.

"During her well-earned but all too brief retirement years, Jenny was happy to make new friends in the U.S. and particularly enjoyed introducing them to her favourite English colloquialisms.

"Jenny is remembered as someone for whom nothing was ever too much trouble.

"She loved to talk to anyone and everyone, and nothing gave her greater pleasure than to discover the willingness of people to spend time discussing life, the universe and everything with her."

Jenny’s family are particularly grateful to the doctors and nurses of UConn Health, that worked so tirelessly on her behalf this past year.

A memorial service will be held in West Hartford, USA, on August 3.