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HAMPTON - For the people who knew her, Louise Tamlyn of Hampton was a role model.

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Louise Tamlyn

Remembered for her classic style, positive spirit and fairness, her friend and former co-worker Irene Humphrey of Bloomfield said the circle of friends they shared will be lost this summer when they gather at their favourite camping spot in St. Martins.

Louise, one of the first woman bank managers in the province, died on May 3 at the age of 76.

The Pictou County, N.S., woman was hired as a junior clerk with the Bank of Nova Scotia in Pictou in 1950. She met her future husband Don there, working at the same branch, and they married five years later.

They moved and she eventually became the bank manager in Hampton in 1982. Louise retired from the bank after 30 years of service in 1991.

Irene worked with Louise as she rose through the ranks of the Hampton bank, and described her friend as a very convincing woman.

"Louise and Don had a motor home and one year they took us on vacation with them. We got hooked and eventually got our own," she said. "We trailered together for many years."

Louise also got her good friend Irene "hooked" on summering in Florida. For nine years, they parked their RVs in next-door parks in the southern state.

And in more recent summers, they enjoyed their RVing in St. Martins.

"We always had a lot of fun together," Irene said. "We would play cards and go for walks, Louise was just a pleasure to be with."

She describes her friend as immaculate with her style.

"She never liked talking about her age, and she hid it very well," Irene said. "Everything had to match, even when she retired, she always looks nice."

Louise's daughter Karen describes her mother the same way.

"(She) was an impeccable dresser. Everything was co-ordinated to the T," the Fredericton woman said. "The make-up, jewelry and, of course, the shoes.

"She loved to shop and 'look for the deals.' She would often say 'I didn't need this but I couldn't resist'."

Louise was born to a musical family in River John, N.S. She and her brothers formed a band with their father and played at dances in the area. She also performed with the Art Clark band in Truro as a self-taught banjo, piano, and guitar player. She loved country and bluegrass music.

"She also loved to go to dances," Karen said. "She would look for a willing dance partner when a hop polka was played as that was one dance Don couldn't do. After her retirement she took up line dancing. She could be found in the rec centre in Florida all decked out in her line dancing attire including the cowboy boots."

Karen said her mother loved to sew, knit, tole paint and bake and was well known for her biscuits and pies. After retirement, making and selling crafts became her passion.

"She made many items but the one she was most famous for was her 'climbing earrings'," Karen said. "Last week she gave the woman in the hospital bed next to her a pair of her earrings. She was dying of cancer and Louise thought it might cheer her up."

Louise was a people person, her daughter, said, and taught Sunday School and sang in her church choir.

She is survived by her husband, Donald, her daughter Karen, two sons Michael of Halifax and Jeff of Largo, Fla., four brothers still in Pictou, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.