ONE of the leading lights of Ilkley's amateur dramatics scene has died, tragically, at the age of 53.

Lynn Coleman, known to all as 'Dooley', lost her four-year battle with cancer on October 13 and was buried on Monday at Brimham Rocks, near Nidderdale.

Mrs Coleman, of Parish Ghyll Road, was born on July 3, 1948, in Lincolnshire and moved to Ilkley 13 years ago with her husband Peter, 52, and daughter Jennifer, 20, a student at the University of East Anglia.

She soon joined the Ilkley Players, a local theatre group, where she became artistic director, designing sets and costumes, as well as performing in countless productions.

She also helped out over the years at Ashlands Primary School and the Hair Shop in Ilkley.

In 1998 Mrs Coleman was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She returned to a near normal life until January this year when she was told that the cancer had returned. Despite a punishing regime of treatment the disease eventually spread fatally to her brain.

Her husband, Peter, paid tribute to her courage this week. He said: "Dooley is one of those few people instantly recognisable by a first name. This was no better demonstrated than by the way she dealt with the cancer.

"She handled the terrible news in January with a smile and a resolution to 'fight this bloody thing'. During the entire period of her treatment she remained positive and cheerful. To her very last day she was managing to joke about things. Dooley was a happy woman and liked to laugh and make people laugh."

He said a burial site at Kate's Fell, Brimham Rocks, had been chosen as his wife's final resting place because she wanted a 'green' burial at a wildlife reserve. Her funeral was held after the burial at the Wildman Theatre at Ilkley Playhouse.

Pat Dyson, chairman of Ilkley Players, said Mrs Coleman was a great friend, as well as a talented actress, designer and artist. "She was a very special person. She was fun and an incredibly warm-hearted individual. She's going to leave the biggest hole in our lives.

"There was a respect and admiration for her talent but those that knew her loved her because she was just lovely."

Mrs Coleman's last starring role at the Playhouse was as Betty in Kay Mellor's play A Passionate Woman. "She was just wonderful," said Mrs Dyson, of Beverley Rise. "Her forte was comedy. She could move you, make you laugh one minute and cry the other."

Mrs Dyson said her friend was brave to the last, receiving any treatment which was offered to fight the cancer. "She's been a great source of inspiration to all of us. I was with her the week before she died and we were just there laughing. She knew she was dying but she was coping with what time she had and still finding things in life to make her laugh."

Mrs Coleman had been writing a play based on the works of Charles Dickens shortly before she died and this will be performed by the Players in the future.