Eileen Proctor

Eileen Field was born in London in 1916. She worked as a seamstress and psychiatric nurse, and as a telephonist during the London Blitz.

Proctor was widowed in December 1962 when her husband was knocked down by a bus while cycling home from work. In 1966 she wrote a letter to The Irish Press seeking support from other widows. The National Association of Widows in Ireland was founded in Dublin in January 1967.^[4] Proctor served as its president until her death in 2007.^[5][6]

Lobbying by the NAWI introduced more benefits for widows, including an electricity allowance; free TV licence, free phone rental, a "Living Alone" allowance, double pension at Christmas, a supplementary benefit for pensioners and those on small, fixed incomes; and widows of Easter Rising veterans.^[7][8][9] Proctor won a People of the Year Award in 1977.^[10]