My wife, Christine Andain, who has died of ovarian cancer aged 60, was a woman with an extraordinary zest for life. She turned her hand to many things, from teaching to writing crime novels and, at the end of her life, learning to paint.

She was born in Coneysthorpe, Yorkshire, to Joy and Frank Eccles, both schoolteachers. In 1957 her father moved the family to Germany to become a deputy headteacher in a British forces primary school. During her time there Christine became fluent in German and developed a love of travelling.

The family returned to Britain in 1969 and Christine went to St Katharine's College (now Hope University) in Liverpool. She graduated in 1975 and embarked on a teaching career that was driven by her commitment to schools in socially deprived areas in the city. She was not only a superb classroom teacher but also gave her own time each summer to organise a cruise holiday for many of her students. Over 32 years she enriched the lives of countless young people in Liverpool.

From 1992 to 1995 she was a fellow in the education department of the University of Liverpool, where her brief was to build bridges between education and business. In this she was hugely successful,running popular courses for teachers as well as providing experience for students to run their own businesses with the support of a team of mentors she had recruited.

In 2003 she gained an MA in writing and subsequently wrote two crime thrillers featuring a detective in Northern Cyprus called Oz Zahir: Book of Silence (2008) and Crossing Borders (2013). Both were published and at the time of her death she had just completed a third. She also had short stories published on digital book sites.

Christine met challenges head on and when, in 2009, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer she refused to be bowed by the prognosis. She decided to learn to paint and took great delight in painting her own birthday cards to send to friends and relatives.

Until her death she planned for the future, continued to see friends and family, talked, and joined in the folk singing with her marvellous voice – occasions which were often punctured by the peals of outrageous laughter for which she was famous.

Christine is survived by me, her siblings, Barbara, John and Peter, and 11 nieces and nephews.