After working in England and also exploring her Cornish ancestry, she returned to New Zealand to continue teaching, becoming Advisor Junior Classes while enrolling at Massey to study and become fluent in the Maori language.
Her preference was for the practical side of teaching, but she became valued by the profession as an inspector, lecturer, and in assisting schools in administrative changes.
According to eulogies at her funeral on July 31, her initiative and guidance lives on in many organisations, where if she had seen a need she would put her energy and resources into making something happen.
At the age of 10 she was already out collecting for Barnados and other causes. With husband Joe she helped set up the Trade Aid shop, in which she volunteered for many years.
As an early Art Deco guide she made sure many visitors had a special experience of the city, and for many years she was the voice of a regular community slot on Radio Kidnappers, where her interviews were planned to make sure the listeners were both informed and enthused.
News of community events, the activities of National Council of Women, the Federation of Graduate Women, or Dr Catherine Hamlin and her work at the fistula hospital in Ethiopia were regular topics. Listeners responded so readily to requests for supplies for the hospital that Val Dell then ran fund raising afternoon teas to finance freight costs.
Her commitment to education for women, both for their own futures and for the education of their families, led to her drive to be involved in setting up the Teen Parent School and Early Childhood Unit at William Colenso College in 2000. The facility has now benefited over 800 young women and their children, while Val remained a benefactor and in a governance role.
Among her accolades were a National Council of Women's Distinguished Service Award, but, as all speakers at her funeral emphasised, she never did anything for personal recognition.
Contact with her extended family was a very important part of her life, and she kept in touch through travel and other means, following their lives and being proud of their achievements, whether in Australia or America.
Valerie (Val) Myrtle Dell was the daughter of the late Harry and Myrtle Owens, and her sole sibling Mae Moir died in 2015.