the Church of England, and the topic of faith came to run through much of her artistic work. The couple adopted two boys, and the family settled in a farmhouse at The Bield in Little Langdale in the Lake District, where she made a studio in an outhouse. de Vasconcellos and her husband were also god-parents to at least 20 children. In 1967, through associations with Pelham House School in West Cumbria, the family helped found the Beckstone Centre, an Outward Bound-type facility for disadvantaged boys at Beckstones in the Duddon Valley. In 1975, she initiated the founding of The Harriet Trust, on the Duddon Estuary at Millom so that disabled children could enjoy nature holidays within a purpose-built dwelling; the modified former fishing trawler The Harriet was used as a recreation space. It was such work, rather than her sculpture, that led to de Vasconcellos being awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1985. Last years In 1988, illness forced de Vasconcellos to leave Little Langdale, and for a time she was accommodated at Isel Hall near Cockermouth. She was able to find a small cottage and studio at Peggy Hill, Ambleside. She continued her creative work well into her 90s, her final piece, Escape to Light, was created in 2001 to commemorate the men of the Independent Off-Shore Rescue Service; it is located at Haverigg on the Cumbrian coast. De Vasconcellos died at 6 am on 20 July 2005, a few months after her 100th birthday, at the Orchard Lodge nursing home, Blackpool. Josefina de Vasconcellos published in her 99th year 'She was Loved: Memories of Beatrix Potter' (Titus Wilson 2003) an account with letters of the friendship between the two cultivated over many years including a number of photographs of her sculptures and other illustrations. References External links Josefina de Vasconcellos at Cartmel Official website for the Josefina de Vasconcellos charitable Trust 1904 births 2005 deaths 20th-century British sculptors 20th-century English women artists Alumni of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière Alumni of Arts University Bournemouth Alumni of the Royal Academy Schools British centenarians English people of Brazilian descent English Anglicans English women sculptors Members of the Order of the British Empire Modern sculptors People from Molesey Women centenarians