Sadness at death of former Perth Grammar School teacher Alastair Patterson

There was sadness and shock yesterday as a much loved Perth teacher died after suffering a suspected heart attack.

Alastair Patterson was a respected and admired colleague who worked for many years at Perth Grammar School.

Despite having ”retired” from the school in 2006, head teacher John Low said Mr Patterson ”had never really left” as he continued to play a regular role in school life.

Pupils past and present flooded social networking sites to express their horror at news of his death.

Paying tribute to a much-valued colleague, Mr Low said: ”Despite having ‘retired’ Alastair continued to give up his time, helping out with sporting events and he was often the minibus driver for school teams.

”His huge commitment to supporting our Duke of Edinburgh programme was integral to its success.

”In the last couple of years he was an invigilator for our SQA exams and this year became chief invigilator.

”His unfailing and insightful humour was always guaranteed to raise a smile. Our deepest sympathies as a school go out to Alistair’s family and in particular his wife Liz, who is one of our colleagues in the mathematics department.”