Winnie Ling, 1913 - 2013
Winnie passed away recently, aged 100. She was the indefatigable secretary and chief organiser of the Oxford Bridge Club for a long time, and also acted for many years as an unpaid tutor at the Thursday bridge classes organised at the club. In 1997, for her long service to bridge in Oxfordshire, Winnie Ling won the EBU’s Dimmie Fleming award.
Current and former county captain Nick Smith recalls: ‘Winnie Ling played locally for well over half a century and for much of that time she was the strongest player in her club, if not the county. She always upheld the ethics of the game, and was still a fierce competitor even in extreme old age.’
Away from the bridge table another fellow teacher and friend, Peggy Manuell, accompanied Winnie as volunteers taking round Meals on Wheels and visiting prisoners; she said: ‘Winnie was very sad when age finally forced her to give this up.’
At a service in her memory, the vicar noted: ‘Bridge consists of bidding and play. Life on earth is like bidding. In heaven we can play.’