June Thomson, an Angus-based dance teacher who danced with TV’s White Heather Club, has died aged 89.
She was a classmate of Andy Stewart and linked up with the entertainer in shows in later life.
For decades, June taught Scottish country dancing in Angus and at summer schools at St Andrews University.
June was born in Carnoustie in June 1933 to Walter Dorward Campbell and his wife Georgina Evans.
Her mother was a housewife and her father was a chief petty officer in the Royal Navy. During the Second World War he was involved in the Battle of the River Plate which resulted in the sinking of the German pocket battleship Graf Spee.
Education
She was educated at Arbroath High School, having passed her 11-plus exams to gain entry.
After she left school, June began a secretarial career in Dundee with firms including Scottish Agricultural Services.
She had participated in Highland dancing from a young age but country dancing was her true passion. She became a member of the Gie Gordons Dance Team in Dundee and it was there she met her future husband, John, a member of the Gie Gordons Band.
In August 1960, the couple married at Saints Peter and Paul Church, Dundee, and they went on to have two of a family; Michael in 1963 and Gary in 1966.
John’s work with Valentines of Dundee greeting card company took the family to Ayr for a period followed by Eskbank, Dalkeith, before returning to Carnoustie in 1971.
She resumed her dancing after her boys were older but her return coincided with the death of her husband who died as he played the accordion at a Burn’s Supper in Broughty Ferry in 1981.
Her son, Gary, said: “She got involved in the local Carnoustie dance scene and shortly afterwards took her teaching certificate by attending summer schools in St Andrews University.
“When she qualified, she started to take classes in Carnoustie which quickly led to teaching in Arbroath and other places across Angus.
Encouragement
“She had a real passion for encouraging the young into the dance scene whether that meant people in their 30s or 40s or primary school children when she organised to take dancing to them.
“She continued to teach and organise until 75 although her physical dancing had reduced by then. She was still heavily involved in the Round O which is the Arbroath branch of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society.”
After she was widowed, June joined West End Bowling Club in Carnoustie and became an avid supporter of the sport including undertaking a spell as match secretary.
You can read the family’s announcement here.