Diana McClatchey, one of the leading lights in the campaign for the ordination of women, died on Friday at St Michael's Hospice, Malvern.

Dr McClatchey studied at Oxford, getting her MA in 1944 and D.Phil in 1949.

She and husband Harry, who worked for Shell before ordination, lived in Nigeria and Jakarta. They brought up their family during these years before Dr McClatchey became a deaconess in 1971.

They moved to Worcester diocese in 1974, when her husband was appointed rector of Hartlebury.

She served as a deaconess in Wilden from 1980 to 1985, then retiring to Malvern.

In her retirement, she continued an active ministry, especially at the Court House Nursing Home and St Matthias Church, Malvern Link.

Diana McClatchey played a leading role in the Anglican Group for the Ordination of Women and became a founder of the organisation that grew from it, the Movement for the Ordination of Women.

As moderator of the group, she saw her role as holding the balance between those wanting high-profile direct action and the larger group working to achieve the goal without resorting to more militant action.

She remembered her time with MOW as a period of intense political activity, especially after the measure had been accepted by the Synod and had to go through Parliament.

Her family remembers her elation when the vote finally went through, and remember the international guests and correspondence with Anglicans worldwide about women's ministry.

She spent three years nursing her husband until his death in 2001, and then continued pastoral work locally.

Although many urged her to become a priest herself, she remained a deaconess.

The Bishop of Worcester, Rt Rev Peter Selby, said: "I believe Diana is a person of whom this diocese can be particularly proud."

The funeral is today (Friday) at 2pm in St Matthias Church. She is survived by two daughters and a son.