Ron Wood, a former Weekly News sub editor and Evening Telegraph angling columnist, has died aged 86.
He spent almost 40 years working with publishers DC Thomson after starting on magazines then transferring to newspapers.
His popular column, written under the pseudonym RRW, ran for 26 years from 1982 until 2008.
Ronald Ross Wood, or Ron as he preferred, was born in Dundee in May 1936 at Maryfield Hospital to his Edinburgh-born parents Netta and Alec Wood, who had moved to Dundee for Alec’s work as a pharmaceutical sales rep.
Language skills
Ron attended Grove Academy where he particularly enjoyed studying languages and English literature.
When he left school, he worked as a clerk for the then Dundee Corporation, in the slaughterhouse.
Shortly after, he was called up for National Service and became an instructor in the Royal Signals, based in Catterick and Lincoln.
On his return to civilian life, Ron returned to work for the corporation as a rent collector, then as clerk with the parks department.
He met his wife-to-be, Dorothy, at the JM Ballroom and, when he asked to accompany her home, he was surprised that they both lived on Balgavies Avenue, one at the top and one at the bottom.
Marriage
The couple married in 1959 at Craigiebank Church and their first child, Rosslynne, was born in 1961. The following year, Ron began his illustrious career with DC Thomson.
After a spell in the fiction department, he worked on several women’s magazines including Secrets, My Weekly and Family Star.
Ron moved to the Weekly News in 1969, progressing through the ranks to become one of the sub-editors with additional responsibilities of cartoon editor, record reviewer and the man in charge of Ask Sue and Top Tips.
In 1982, in addition to his daily responsibilities, Ron began writing the weekly Angling Diary in the Evening Telegraph.
His column covered the length and breadth of Scotland’s rivers and lochs where Ron regularly fished.
He was a member of Monifieth Trout Angling Club, where he organised competitions and enjoyed annual trips to the far-flung reaches of Scotland.
Ron was also a keen golfer and a member of the Press Golf Club, and Grange Golf Club, however, angling was his main hobby, and on his retirement his colleagues presented him with a top-of-the-range outboard motor.
Devotion
In 2008, Dorothy suffered a major stroke, and it was at this point that Ron made his decision to give up his beloved angling column and his angling club to devote himself to Dorothy’s recovery.
Dorothy died in January last year. Ron didn’t recover from the loss and died peacefully on Friday 13 January 2023.
He is survived by his daughters Rosslynne Forbes and Lesley McKendrick, his two grandsons, Jordan and Adam, and great-granddaughters Amber (14 months) and Hazel (10 months).
The funeral service is on Thursday 26 January at 1pm at J and J Gray, Perth Road, Dundee.
You can read the family’s announcement here.
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