Maureen Baker

Mrs Baker was born in Dublin and came to Leeds as a young woman.

She lived first in Chapeltown where she became a community activist and helped set up the United Caribbean Association’s home for the elderly which was opened by the Queen.

She was also a dynamic political campaigner, one of a group of anti-apartheid activists which succeeded in preventing the South African cricket team visiting Leeds during the apartheid era in 1970.

She met her husband Paul when “they were at either end of a CND banner” according to her family.

In the 1960s and 1970s she worked as an immigration counsellor. Then, men could be joined by future wives from their countries of origin, but women here could not be joined by their future husbands.

Mrs Baker’s campaigning changed the law.

During the Ugandan-Asian crisis of 1972 – when tyrant Idi Amin ejected Uganda’s Asian residents – many were given refuge in Britain and Mrs Baker played a key role in their re-settlement.

In 1976 her husband took a job in Africa, working as a pharmacist for the Zambian Government. The couple became friends with the country’s leader Kenneth Kaunda.

Mrs Baker taught African history at Lusaka University in the country’s capital.

When they returned to Leeds, living in Woodhouse, Mrs Baker resumed her activities.

With others, she helped established the Stephen Lawrence educational standard in the city

Mrs Baker became a respected friend of many of Leeds’ immigrant groups, including the Sikh community. She worked with gypsies and travelling people and, in 2004, received an MBE for services to the community.

Her husband Paul died 14 years ago. She is survived by a son, two daughters and four grandchildren.