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Obituary: Inspirational Helen Adam overcame adversity to become beloved Carnoustie teacher

Former Carnoustie High School teacher Helen Adam.
Former Carnoustie High School teacher Helen Adam.

When the death of Helen Adam, former assistant head of English at Carnoustie High School, was announced, the public reaction was huge.

Many described her as their best-ever teacher and an inspiration, yet few knew her remarkable story.

Always known as Miss Adam, Helen died in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, on January 14  2023, aged 90

She was born in the fishing village of Usan, near Montrose, on April 11 1932, where her father was the Coastguard.

Four years later the family moved to Hull where her father was stationed at the outbreak of the Second World War.

Helen vividly recalled the terror of the German bombing raids on the town but of more import to a nine-year-old was the death of her father from cancer and the loss of one of her stepbrothers in a battle at sea.

Helen Adam in her younger years.

In 1942 the family relocated to Carnoustie yet tragedy was to strike once more when her brother, Grant, born a year after Helen, was tragically killed in a shooting incident close to the firing range at Barry.

Helen attended Arbroath High School and gained a place at St Andrews University in 1950, only to contract polio just as she was due to begin her studies.

She then spent nine months in hospital with the first three spent in isolation at the fever hospital at Bridge of Earn, emerging only able to walk with the aid of callipers and crutches but determined to take up her studies again, this time at Dundee.

Overcoming the odds

But these were very different times. Although she had signed up to study modern languages, she had to withdraw from the course as it was deemed her handicap made her unable to travel overseas to polish her language skills.

When she earned a degree in English and history instead, she was next turned down for a teaching course, again on the grounds of her disability.

It took a fierce and determined campaign by Helen and the support of the headmaster at Carnoustie Primary School to reverse the decision.

The school’s faith in her was vindicated when she took up a post there in 1956 and during an unannounced inspection was to be found conducting, expertly, of course, a gym lesson for 46 infants.

With the opening of Carnoustie High School in 1972, Helen transferred to teach English and history.

Her pupils saw not a disabled person but a teacher in whose class no one dared to misbehave. Strict but fair was the consensus.

Power of recall

Those who met her even 60 years after she had taught them also came to realise what a formidable memory she had, rattling off their attributes as children and going on to add who the person’s brothers, sisters and cousins were, a one-woman genealogist for the town.

In addition to her teaching, Helen served as a Brownie leader, continuing her association with the movement in later years as a member of the Trefoil Guild.

She was also a familiar sight in her Putt Putt, the affectionate name given to her two-stroke engine invalid carriage in which she’d travelled to university and in which she set off in her early 20s for the Newton Panbride Dramatic Club where she’d take part in readings, becoming a reliable prompt before finally taking to the stage herself.

Miss Adam with her Putt Putt vehicle.

The theatre was a passion that stayed with her for life as she travelled to theatres far and wide with former college of education lecturer John Whitehead’s drama group, being hoisted on and off buses by those completely unfitted for the task to the detriment of her tiny frame but the enrichment of her soul.

She was also a regular attendee at RSNO concerts in Caird Hall and a member of Carnoustie Recorded Music Society.

By 1985, however, she reluctantly had to accept that having “walked on her hands” for 28 years (her description of walking with crutches) her joints would no longer oblige and she retired from teaching.

Life of faith

Her body may have been failing but her spirit never did. A lifelong member of Holyrood Episcopal Church, she drew great comfort from her faith and, being Helen, refused to allow the restrictions of a wheelchair to impinge on her busy life.

And there was always someone on hand to help not because her many friends felt sorry for her but because to spend time in her company was such a joy with her ready laugh and her inexhaustible fund of stories.

From trips in her many Motability vehicles, to swimming with dolphins in South Africa or hosting a French class in her home, Helen was simply unstoppable right up to the end.

The carers on whom she increasingly came to rely ensured she could continue to stay in her own home and felt privileged to do so.

She is survived by her much-loved god-daughters, Helen and Veronica, for whose unstinting support she was always grateful.

You can read the formal announcement here.

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