Anita Mukherjee, who has died aged 57, was a native of Kolkata in India who became very much a part of life in her adopted home of Enniskillen, where she was a charismatic community worker for a decade and a half. At meetings, she was always the person people wanted to sit beside because she was fun.
Probably her biggest achievement was establishing Women of the World in Fermanagh, a group which helps to counteract the isolation of immigrant women.
Anita Mukherjee energetically promoted her Bengali culture, teaching its dance and cookery. She swept into classes in a whirlwind of cheerfulness, with bangles and sari. As well as being an enthusiast for Bengali food, she was an equally energetic promoter of healthy eating. Her workshops on equality and diversity always deepened participants’ understanding.
She was also a member of Fermanagh Women’s Network, the Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network, Fermanagh Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP), and the Soroptimists.
She was born Anita Chatterji in January 1957 in Kolkata, India’s third largest city, the eldest of four children. Her father was an engineer, her mother a poet. The family was educated rather than rich.
She received secondary education at Loreto House in Kolkata, one of India's most prestigious schools, run by Irish nuns, where she remembered encountering Mother Teresa.
She continued her education with a degree in English from the University of Calcutta. At the turn of the century she left India when her husband became general manager of an engineering firm in Fermanagh. The county quickly became home, and she contributed greatly to its life.
She is survived by her husband, Tapan, son Rohan, sisters Indrani and Debjani, and brother, Rinku.