My mother-in-law, Margaret Kaye, who has died aged 94, dedicated much of her life to social services, in particular the provision of support to vulnerable young children.
She was born in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, and her childhood was spent in the shadow of poverty and mass unemployment. Her father, Jack Johnson, was a coalminer and local branch secretary of the Communist party, who was victimised after the general strike of 1926 and took to professional boxing, having been involved in the sport in previous years. Her mother, Hilda (nee Wood), was a housewife. Margaret joined the Young Communist League in her teens and remained committed to the Communist party until its dissolution in 1991.
She attended Saddler Street school in Bishop Auckland, leaving at 14 to work in a button factory. After studying at night school, she was taken on as a secretary for the Fire Brigades Union in Newcastle. Her formidable administrative skills marked her out, and towards the end of the second world war she was relocated to London to work for John Horner, then general secretary of the union. There she met Solly Kaye, the charismatic young Communist party organiser for east London.
Solly walked her home to her digs five nights in a row, and on the fifth night proposed to her on a park bench. They were married in 1945, settled in Hackney and had three children, Jan, Johnny and Joanna. While raising the family, Margaret supported Solly in his political work.
In 1964 she resumed her own career, retraining as a social worker and then working in the children and family departments of Camden and Enfield social services. For 47 years she was friend and protector to countless children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and also to those (usually much younger) colleagues making their careers in social work.
So valued was her contribution that she was allowed to work on to the age of 87. After retirement in 2011, she retained her many friendships and a keen interest in the world. Above all, she was the lioness of her large and extended family, a born optimist and ever proud of her Durham roots.
Solly died in 2005. Margaret is survived by Jan, Johnny and Joanna, and her grandchildren, Eleanor, Ben, Amy, Charlotte, Millie, Kit and Betsy.
