In March, 2021 we changed how we work at The Courier and Evening Telegraph.
We turned the traditional newspaper model on its head by publishing online first so stories were available to readers earlier.
We also formed teams to develop specialities in fields such as politics, business, transport and environment, and food and drink.
Obituaries was one of the new teams created. We have always recognised those who had contributed to our communities but the aim of the new team, was to do this more thoroughly.
There are two people in the team, Chris Ferguson and Lindsay Bruce, working across The Courier’s area and that of our sister paper, the Press and Journal.
Our patch stretches from Stirling in the south to Shetland in the north and all places in between.
This year, 2022, was our first full year of operation and today we are taking a look back at some of the obituaries we have published.
How to get in touch with me
We have picked a cross section of stories that families have shared with us to reflect the variety of obituaries we have carried in 2022. If you would like us to feature your loved one, please call me on 07890 033352 or email chrisferguson@thecourier.co.uk
Our thanks to all the families we have worked with during the year and for allowing us to publish some remarkable stories.
The first obituary we published in 2022 was of former Scots Guardsman David Cuthill, 83. He was born in Friockheim in 1938, joined the Scots Guards in 1962 and saw service in Malaya and Borneo.
In later life he became a roads supervisor with Angus Council and and a senior office-bearer in the Dundee and Angus branch of the Scots Guards Association. He was also a friend and supporter of 45 Commando Veterans’ Group in Arbroath.
Arliss Rhind was a former news editor at The Courier who had enjoyed a long and successful career in Fleet Street before he returned to his native Dundee.
He worked for the Daily Express in the 1960s and 1970s, encountered Kray Twins associates in East End pubs and interviewed stars like John Lennon.
In his youth he had been an outstanding rugby player and represented Morgan, Morgan FP and North and Midlands.
Jyoti Hazra, who died aged 91, dedicated his life to fostering good race relations in Dundee and Tayside. We featured his story in January.
He was born in Kolkata, India, and came to Scotland to study at Glasgow University. He went on to work at a Glenrothes mine before studying teaching and lecturing in mathematics at Dundee College of Commerce.
Jyoti became a long-standing member of the former Dundee District Council’s equal opportunities committee and was a past chairman of Tayside Community Relations Council.
At the start of February we paid tribute to Carse of Gowrie author and poet Margaret Gillies Brown who died aged 92.
Three of her largely biographical books were serialised in The Courier and proved hugely popular with readers.
Margaret had written in verse since early childhood but did not take up writing seriously until she was 45 and her youngest child had gone to school.
In the following years, she published at least nine books of poetry as well as the series of Rowan Tree biographies of life in rural Scotland and her spell living in Canada.
Dugal Beedie, who died aged 82, made a huge contribution to civic life in Dundee and Angus.
He was a chartered accountant who headed the development of Montrose’s Sea Oil Base in the 1970s then later became managing partner of accountants Ernst and Young in Dundee.
Dugal chaired the Prince’s Trust in Angus for a period, captained Royal Montrose Golf Club, helped establish the Wildlife Trust visitor centre at Montrose Basin and led Hillside Scout Troop.
He also served as president of Dundee and Tayside Chamber of Commerce, was a past president of Montrose Rotary, and had been deputy chairman of Montrose Harbour Board.
On February 10 we carried the story of the death of comic book artists Ian Kennedy of Dundee.
He had a career spanning 73 years, created 1,600 Commando front covers and illustrated Dan Dare, Judge Dredd and the Blake’s 7 magazine.
Ian joined DC Thomson in 1949 and later went freelance, working for national titles but retaining a close relationship with the Dundee publishers.
He was a giant of the comic world and would be feted by fans whenever he turned up at comic conventions. Ian was 89.
Brian MacDonald operated Lochee butchers MacDonald and Son for 50 years and died aged 74.
His father, David, had founded the business in 1935 and Brian drove forward its expansion into new markets.
Brian’s firm became famed for supplying polony, black pudding and lorne sausage to hot-food takeaways across Dundee.
Bob Spalding of Kirriemuir was 100 when he died and we told his story in March.
His family told me that during the war he was a bomb retrieval and disposal expert and once encountered film star James Stewart while digging for unexploded American bombs at Attleborough in England.
The Hollywood actor, who rose to the rank of Major General, arrived with a fellow officer and spent time chatting to Bob.
In his varied working life, Bob had a long spell running a soft fruit enterprise in Angus, was head gardener on an estate and ended his career as a farm manager.
Peter Griggs was born in Lincoln and came to Dundee as a sailor in the Second World War where he fell in love with Margaret Mitchell and later married.
He joined Dundee police in 1951 and served 30 years during which time he did a huge amount of charity work to raise money to buy wheelchairs.
Peter, who was 96, was awarded the British Empire medal for his tireless work.
Jimmy Smith was the Lochee bingo boss who is credited with bringing karaoke to Dundee.
He ran the Rialto and branched out into running karaoke sessions at pubs and clubs around Tayside.
We featured Jimmy on March 11. Jimmy and wife Irene later ran Jimmy’s bar in Stewart Street, Lochee, before opening a restaurant in Blair Atholl.
Audrey Balfour, who died aged 86, was a real character in Dundee.
She spent years travelling the city on her mobility scooter dressed as Santa collecting for Macmillan Cancer Support.
A former Miss Dundee, Audrey, whose charity work was motivated by the loss of two children to cancer and battled it herself, did her work incognito.
In April we we told the story of Black Watch veteran Fred Waters, who was given a £5,000 surprise by Sir Rod Stewart when his 100th birthday party was cancelled, has died.
Fred, who saw action during the Second World War, died one day short of his 102nd birthday.
A grandfather of two, Fred had a long career with publisher DC Thomson and retired in 1985.
Read about Rod Stewart’s kindness here.
Retired police superintendent Brian Kirk, who investigated some of Dundee’s most notorious murders, died aged 71.
In 1979 he was part of the team probing the triple murders on Kinghorne Road and helped to secure Sonny Mone’s conviction.
The following year, Brian he was involved in investigating the killing of retired GP Dr Alexander Wood and his wife Dorothy in their Roseangle home.
He was also part of the team investigating the Christmas killing of Gordon Dunbar in 1992.
Giuseppe Di-Finizio was shaped in the rubble and poverty of post-war Naples and went on to establish one of Perth’s most popular businesses.
He was the man behind Pino’s chip shop branches in Leonard Street and Old High Street and we spoke to his family in April.
His on, Armando, said his father had experienced near starvation at the end of the war. “I think this shaped his character for the rest of his life. He was determined never to go back to that state again and from this came a strong work ethic and a determination to succeed,” said Armando.
Moira Sharp was a celebrated Dundee singer who died aged 75. She was best remembered as vocalist with Hunter’s Keys.
Years after she stopped performing, Moira would be stopped by people in the street keen to share memories.
In later life Moira was a foster carer and took additional qualifications to allow her to work with children with special needs.
Dundee lost another musical talent with the death of jazz singer Eleanor Chalmers and we featured her story in May.
She sang in the Pelican jazz band in the 1940s and 1950s before forming the Vince and Eleanor duo with her husband Vince Chalmers.
In later life the couple would run V&E Chalmers Guitar Centre, first in King Street and later in Albert Street.
Freuchie’s oldest citizen, Christina Paterson, died just short of her 107th birthday.
She was born during the First World War and started her working life at the linen factory in the village.
After the Second World War, Christina and her husband, army veteran, John, set up home in Falkland.
John, known as Tony worked for Spittal the plumber and Christina, served in the firm’s ironmonger’s shop. They couple lived above the premises.
Laurie Rogers, former Courier reporter and one of Forfar’s most prominent citizens, died aged 93.
He was head of the newspaper’s Forfar office from 1966 to 1994 following spells in Arbroath and Montrose.
Laurie’s influence and legacy went well beyond the news pages. He was deeply involved in many community activities and wrote books on walking routes and military history.
Graham Brown, one of The Courier’s most senior reporters who worked closely with Laurie, described him as unflappable and unfailingly courteous.
Dundee lost a boxing legend with the death of Frank Hendry, 91, and we spoke to his family in May.
He was one of amateur boxing’s top officials and founder of St Francis Amateur Boxing Club in Dundee.
Frank also participated in 13 Commonwealth Games, first as Scotland team manager and then as an official.
He developed friendships with the biggest stars of the sport, including former world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali.
Arbroath’s William Glover, a former music tutor in Angus who sailed solo across the Atlantic at the age of 72, died aged 85.
William joined the Royal Navy at the age of 18, going on to serve mainly on aircraft carriers until his departure from the service at the age of 37.
During his time in the navy, William developed his musical talent, performing in both formal navy bands and jazz bands.
William and his wife Sheena were heavily involved in the musical and artistic life of both Arbroath and Angus for many years, including Arbroath Operatic Society and Angus Minstrels among others.
John Nolan, one of Scotland’s longest-serving teachers, died in June aged 72.
He had a 51-year teaching career and had planned to return to Dundee High School in the autumn term.
His command of the language was so great that Germans believed he was a native speaker.
Language skills apart, he will also be remembered as an inspiring teacher who influenced the lives of countless pupils over the decades.
Former police officer, St Johnstone and East Fife player and all-round sportsman Alan Salisbury died aged 65 and we told his story in July.
Alan, who spent 30 years with the police in Dundee, had played for Jeanfield Swifts then East Fife before signing for St Johnstone in 1977, fulfilling a boyhood dream to play for the team he supported.
He remained with the club until 1981 and was a team-mate of future Rangers star Ally McCoist.
In retirement Alan devoted time to Forfarshire Cricket Club where his son David had played.
Alan Saunders featured on our television screens for decades as one of Tayside’s Grampian Television reporters.
Alan, who died aged 82, formed a close working partnership with fellow reporters, first Ron Thompson, and then Craig Millar.
It was Ron who encouraged Alan to make the transition from a print reporter with the Sunday Express in Dundee into television.
Throughout his career, Alan was most closely associated with sport and he went on to be one of the presenters of Sports Call on Friday nights, broadcasting from the Aberdeen studio.
Towards the end of July we carried a tribute to Mark Keith, 38, of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, who died after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Mark died at home in Dundee surrounded by his family, and received a full military funeral at St Mary Our Lady of Victories Church.
Later, as Mark was buried at Pitkerro Grove cemetery, his memory was honoured with a gun salute by regimental colleagues.
His brother John had run the Edinburgh Marathon and taken part in a boxing match to raise funds to make Mark’s final days as comfortable as possible.
He told us: “We were always close. We shared a room as boys and were inseparable.”
Arbroath said farewell to Wee Meg Reid, a huge character in the town.
She was well known in the town for queuing all night to secure tickets for the annual Minstrels shows.
Together with her friend Flossie Swankie and her accordion, they would entertain the queue to keep spirits high.
Meg was a regular at the St Tam’s bar, the Lorne and the Station to name but a few and she played in several darts teams over the years.
At the start of August I visited Jack Souttar in Brechin, whose son, Aaron, 42, had died after a two-and-a-half year battle with Motor Neurone Disease.
Aaron was a graduate engineer and a talented golfer who came from a sporting family. His father Jack had played for Brechin City, brother Harry plays for Stoke and Australia and John plays for Rangers.
Jack praised the support the family had received from Doddie Weir’s MND foundation and Angus Council.
This is what Jack told me when we spoke. “MND was the illness Aaron suffered from and it is one of the most hellish diseases that affects mankind.
“My son was handsome, hard working, generous, intelligent, athletic and a friend to many with a wonderful sense of humour who loved life.
“This hellish disease must be stopped and I feel heart sorry for any family going through life with MND.”
We said goodbye to Geordie Reid, 103, The Black Watch’s oldest surviving veteran.
He joined The Black Watch in 1939, undertook his training at Queen’s Barracks in Perth and was posted to the 10th Battalion when it was formed in 1940.
After the war, Geordie returned to work on his father’s farm before joining agricultural haulage firm, DW McDonald.
To mark his 100th birthday a celebration was held at The Black Watch museum in Perth at which he reflected on his time in the army.
Another Courier reader who lived into their second century was Lilian Morrison, 105, of Forfar.
By coincidence, her mother’s sister, Isabel, married Carse of Gowrie farmer, Alf Smith, who lived to be 111 and one of Britain’s oldest people.
Lilian and her husband George ran a soft fruit farm at Slatefield, Forfar.
Lilian went most of her life without touching alcohol but tasted champagne on her 90th birthday and declared she enjoyed it.
On the evening of September 8, 2022, news of the Queen’s death was confirmed. Earlier in the day Buckingham Palace said doctors were concerned for the Queen’s health.
As members of the Royal Family travelled to Balmoral, it became clear that our longest-serving monarch was seriously ill.
Shortly after the death was confirmed we published a lengthy obituary which can be read here.
We also published extracts from our 104-page print supplement and in the days that followed we provided coverage of this extraordinary period in national life.
Later in September we told the story of Margaret Cockburn of Strathkinness who died aged 78 after battling cancer for 34 years.
She was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphona in 1988 but refused to allow the condition to dominate her life.
Her daughter Julie told us: “My mother had so many operations, chemotherapy and radiotherapy but never complained. She just picked herself up and dusted herself down and got on with it.”
At the end of the month, firefighters in Dundee formed a guard of honour at the funeral of former Tayside Firemaster Alex Winton, who died aged 90.
He was known as an officer who always led from the front and just months from his retirement was on active duty on a blazing rig on the Tay.
Alex Winton began his working life as an apprentice plumber, rose to the most senior position in Tayside Fire Brigade and was then appointed Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Fire Services.
Guy Hawksford, a Kinross High School teacher, who survived the 2004 tsunami, died aged 77 and we told his remarkable story at the beginning of October.
He also left Beruit at double-quick time in the 1970s and avoided being taken hostage by Black September.
Guy was known as an inspiration to many at at his funeral a letter written about his influence by a pupil in 1997 was read out.
Another full and productive life we paid tribute to in October was Beryl Dingwall.
She spent many years as part of the expat community in India before starting a successful ladies fashion shop in Broughty Ferry, and died aged 102.
In 1972, Beryl and her lifelong friend, Jean Duncan, opened Flair, a ladies clothing shop in Brook Street.
They ran it for 10 years before selling the business to Pat Caird, whose family had run the Caird department store in Reform Street in Dundee.
Jack Grant, who died aged 90, was a colourful character from a bygone age. He came from a family of sports promoters, bookmakers in the days before off-course gambling was legal.
Jack’s father, Dundee sporting impresario George P. Grant, famously hosted the world’s first open-air world championship boxing match at Hampden Park, Glasgow, in 1953 between flyweights Jackie Patterson and Joe Currran.
Young Jack was at the centre of a court case in the 1950s when a criminal gang demanded £3000 with the threat of violence to Jack.
When gambling was made legal, Jack operated a number of bookies shops around Dundee and Angus, and made his home in Carnoustie.
As November began we reported the death of legendary Perth livestock auctioneer Roley Fraser at the age of 91.
Roley was a descendant of JM Fraser who, with another auctioneer, founded the Perth auction firm of Macdonald Fraser in 1876.
The firm grew to become the leading auctioneers of pedigree cattle in Scotland, with spring and autumn sales at Perth, Aberdeen and Inverness, and weekly sales of commercial cattle and sheep at centres in central Scotland and at Inverness.
Graham Brown of Arbroath, who died aged 91, was a giant of a character.
He travelled on the international strongman circuit and smashed a world record in 1974 for tearing apart nailss with his hands.
A painter to trade, Graham often sang during his strongman acts and became a regular on Grampian Television’s Bothy Nichts programme, broadcast with Jimmy Spankie from the Aberdeen studios.
Betty Loudon of Perth, a former Scotland hockey who headed a family of sporting people, died aged 92.
Betty played hockey and netball for Scotland, her husband Bob was a Scottish international canoeist and their three children, Edith, Peter and Katie, all represented Scotland at curling.
Her grandsons, Ewan and Ross, are both involved in football, Ewan playing for Brechin City and Ross for Scone Thistle.
Bob Ferguson, who died aged 66, made a huge impact on the Crieff community.
He operated Scorpios for 17 years, served 30 years on Crieff Community Council and created the charity behind Crieff’s Christmas lights display.
Bob was a strong voice for Crieff, often defending the town’s interested at meetings in the Perth and Kinross Council chamber.
At the beginning of December we published the obituary of Lady Dorothy Hardie, the longest-surviving ladies captain of Blairgowrie Golf Club, who died just short of her 100th birthday.
She had been a wartime Wren posted to Dundee from her Newcastle when she met her future husband, Douglas Hardie, an officer in the Fife & Forfar Yeomanry.
Douglas, later Sir Douglas, was to become an important Scottish industrialist, chairman of CBI Scotland and chairman of Grampian Television.
Donald Crichton spent a quarter of a century as the lollipop man at Oakbank school in Perth.
He was hugely popular with pupils and parents and would be stopped in the streets by former pupils wanting to chat.
His wife, Aileen, told us: “It was hard to recognise them after these years but it was always nice that people took the time to speak.”
Donald was also a great Rangers fan and for his 80th birthday was taken to Nacho Novo’s Glasgow pub where the former player bought him a drink.
Bill Braithwaite, who died aged 81, was once in charge of police stations across a large part of Angus.
He served from 1962 to 1993 and rose to become chief inspector based in Arbroath.
Bill had begun his working life training as a motor mechanic in Carnoustie before being accepted for the then Angus Constabulary.
He was married to Davina (Sturrock) and lived in Carnoustie.
For the latest obituaries and to read the ones we have published during 2022, click here.
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