By Phil Coleman

Last updated at 09:56, Saturday, 14 February 2009

A Carlisle community was yesterday mourning the loss of a popular and dynamic mum-of-three described as “one of life’s lovely people”.

Lynn Caslin

Lynn Caslin – known to thousands of people for her work as manager of Morton Community Centre – drowned while on holiday in the Caribbean on Tuesday.

Reports suggest that she may have been the victim of freak weather which claimed the lives of six people.

Her grieving husband Sam returned from the resort in the Dominican Republic to the couple’s Wigton Road home in Carlisle on Thursday.

Morton councillor Peter Farmer said that the tragedy had stunned the many people in the area who knew Mrs Caslin, who was 47.

“People just can’t believe that this has happened,” he said. “Lynn’s death represents a terrible loss to the community centre she ran and to the community as a whole.

“She was one of life’s lovely people. She was so dynamic and had a wonderful way with people. She had a way of making them feel comfortable.

“The sense of loss in the community is almost tangible. You just don’t expect to go on a holiday, which they saved up for, and then have this happen. I’ve heard that it was a freak wave which hit.”

Mr Farmer, who knew Mrs Caslin for more than 20 years, said her expert and dedicated management of Morton Community Centre made it the most popular in the city.

He said: “When we set up Tramp [Tenants and Residents of Morton Park] we did it with Lynn’s help. Sam was very involved in helping her at the community centre – they were a great team.”

Mary Styth, chairwoman of the community centre who knew Mrs Caslin since she was a child, said: “She was the most wonderful, cheerful, bubbly person you could wish to meet. I never saw Lynn with a frown on her face.

“We’re all so sad and our thoughts are with the family. Not only was she the core of her family, she was the core of this community centre. She was so widely known throughout the community.”

Mrs Caslin and her husband were on a two-week holiday to the popular snorkelling and diving resort of Sosua.

Torrential rains triggered landslides and damaged homes, bridges and roads, forcing the evacuation of around 12,000 in the north and north east of the country.

Leave your tributes to Lynn Caslin in our online book of condolence

First published at 09:05, Saturday, 14 February 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk