“I don’t think a day went by when we didn’t laugh.  But that was Kaz – honest, caring and so much fun.  She had no idea about the positive impact she made on people.”

Former Lance Corporal, Kaz Tyrer also worked in the prison service, drove an emergency ambulance, and later became an intelligence officer for the National Crime Agency.  “We all joked: ‘Kaz, how many uniforms do you want to wear?’” laughed her husband, Paul.

Especially devoted to the Army, Kaz was a keen supporter of the Army Benevolent Fund (ABF) and regularly took part in its fundraising events.  A particular favourite was the charity’s Operation Bletchley, an innovative series of codebreaking challenges and missions.  Kaz generously raised a total of £935.60 for the ABF’s support for soldiers, former soldiers and their families, through this event.

“Kaz was a very intelligent woman,” said Paul. “Every time she did the Operation Bletchley puzzles, she completed every level. Towards the end she took them into hospital to keep herself occupied, joining the event’s Facebook page and becoming friends with other people who were taking part.”

“It became a community effort, and Kaz loved that Operation Bletchley was all about supporting the veterans,” Paul continued.  “She’d pay for clues and not worry about how much they cost, because the money was going to a cause she cared deeply about.”

Following Kaz’s recent sad passing, Paul and Jackie, Kaz’s friend and former Army colleague, have created a MuchLoved fundraising page to raise money for the ABF in her name.  They plan to complete a personal series of in-memory fundraising events.

Kaz joined the Army in 1986, completing her training in Guildford for the Women’s Royal Army Corps.  “We were in the Outer Hebrides together, manning the radars at what we call the ‘top of the hill’ and looking after the RAF, who came to shoot there,” said Jackie, Kaz’s friend and former colleague.

“There was a real sense of camaraderie,” Jackie continued.  “Kaz was really invested in the Army and loved the fact that she was serving and representing her country.”

Kaz left the Army as a Lance Corporal in 1992, after she met her first husband.  Her son Tom was born in 1993 and her daughter Katie was born five years later.  “Our kids are around the same age,” said Paul.  “My son was in the Navy, and he played rugby for the Navy Under 23s team.  Kaz and I started going to watch him play and she’d say things like, ‘I hope you have a good game, but I want the Army to win!’”

“Kaz had a fantastic sense of humour, but she always strived and pushed herself forwards, too.  She got a degree when she left the Army, just to prove to herself that she could do it.  She was a double black belt, in karate and taekwondo, because she said when she was a single mum she wanted to be able to protect her children.”

Paul met Kaz when they worked in the prison service together as officers.  “She was plain-speaking but very caring, and she just had a knack with people,” he said.

“She knew how to relate to people of all ages, and she did a lot of work with women and young people.

After working for the Ambulance Service, Kaz became an intelligence officer at the National Crime Agency, following a long and arduous recruitment process.  She remained in this role during her final years.  “Kaz had a very bright mind, but she also had time and an ear for everyone,” said Paul.

Jackie found and set up the MuchLoved page in Kaz’s memory.  “I thought it was nice to know that you can have something forever: somewhere to share memories over the years,” she said.

“Over time, we can put videos and photographs and personal stories for people to read on the page, and it’ll give us a little prompt to think about Kaz as the days go by and life moves on.”

“Kaz loved fundraising, so we’re going to start organising our own events in her memory.  For example, she was a massive fan of Liverpool FC and you can abseil off the stand there.  So we’ll do things like that, and we’ll put some money into the ABF because it’ll be a little bit of Kaz.”