A WOMAN who died "doing what she loved best" was so popular well-wishers have donated hundreds of pounds to the hospice she supported.

District nurse Val Dobie suffered a massive brain haemorrhage while singing in a concert rehearsal at Kidderminster Town Hall last month, aged 59.

"What a way to go," said Mrs Dobie's daughter, hairdresser Claire Edwards, of Court Close, Kidderminster.

"Apparently she was really hitting the soprano notes that night."

The concert, held the following night, was in her honour.

Since her death, condolences and cash have flooded in from colleagues, friends, and patients after a special request from her family to aid Mrs Dobie's favourite cause.

The money - around £300 - will be donated to Kemp Hospice, Sutton Park Road, where Mrs Dobie was based as a part-time carer for cancer patients and other terminally ill people in their own homes.

"We will put the money towards Macmillan nurses," said fund-raising manager Christine Tober. "Bless them that during such an awful time her family were thinking of others."

Mrs Dobie, who lived in Alveley, was also a full-time district nurse at Kidderminster's Aylmer Lodge Surgery in Broomfield Road.

Practice manager Diane Millett said: "Her patients were paramount to her. It wasn't just a job to her, it was a way of life."

She added: "Val was always cheerful - you often knew when she was in the building because she would be singing. She's left a big gap."

As a testament to her popularity, people packed Kidderminster's St Mary Church for her funeral. "It's a huge church but there wasn't a seat free. It was a celebration, not a morbid service," explained Mrs Edwards.

"As one of the cards said, she was one in a million."