Lindsey Grieve, who had a teaching career in the Highlands before contributing hugely to the communities of the Carse of Gowrie and Dundee, has died aged 60.
Her death, while on a Norwegian cruise, was sudden and totally unexpected, her husband, John said.
Lindsey was a runner and cyclist and had been one of the driving forces behind Tayside and Strathearn Help for Ukraine.
Shortly after the Russian invasion, TASH formed a base at Errol airfield, and in the following months, sent hundreds of boxes of toiletries and non-perishable food to the war zone.
The latest donation from TASH was a mobile dental unit sent to Ukraine shortly after Lindsey’s death and bearing a plaque in her memory.
Lindsey was skilled at needlework and joined Dundee Tapestry Project to work on a panel called journalism which was displayed at the city’s V&A.
During her time in the Highlands, Lindsey joined Project Linus to make blankets and quilts to give comfort to children in distress.
Lindsey and John moved to Inchture in May 2020 during the pandemic and soon became well established in the community.
She was born in Findon, Aberdeen, in August 1962 to Stewart and Lisbeth Gallacher and had a happy childhood playing in the surrounding fields.
The family moved to Perth in 1970 and Lindsey and her brother, Niall, attended Kinnoull Primary School and then Perth High School, where she became involved in the ski club and visited Glenshee most weekend during the season.
After school, Lindsey went on to study applied mathematics at Dundee College of Technology and it was there she met her future husband, John, through a shared interest in hillwalking.
John, who had graduated in 1981, initially worked in Dundee at Low & Bonar Group as a management trainee and he and Lindsey got engaged in 1983.
The following year when Lindsey graduated with her BSc, John’s career took to him to Glasgow. Despite this, Lindsey opted to undertake a year of teacher training in Dundee. John and Lindsey were married in North Church Perth in July 1985.
They established their first home in Glasgow and Lindsey undertook her two- year probationary period at Crookston Castle Secondary.
Their stay in Glasgow was short as, in early 1987, John started a new job in Inverness;
their plan was to be nearer the hills and ski slopes.
Highland teaching
Lindsey completed her probationary teaching period at the end of the summer term and then took up a post as a computer studies teacher at Culloden Academy.
Both John and Lindsey became involved in the church and organisations in Inverness and in 1992, daughter, Fiona, was born.
As Fiona grew up, Lindsey returned to full-time work teaching computer studies at Dingwall Academy where she took particular satisfaction teaching Advanced Higher classes and later became an SQA verifier.
She retired aged 55 and soon got involved with Step It Up Highland, leading short walks for people with varying health issues.
The couple had joined the local U3A walking group and Lindsey soon found the U3A stitch group. Through this, she discovered Project Linus which became a defining part of her retirement.
Lindsey only took up running in her retirement. She followed the C25K; couch to 5k schedule diligently and, in due course, completed Inverness 5k.
After their move to Inchture, Lindsey continued her involvement in Project Linus and became co-ordinator for Perth and Kinross. She also started a stitch-and-chat group, bringing together mostly young mothers from Inchture.
Together with John, she was a familiar sight running around the village, exploring walks or cycling in the Carse, Strathmore and Fife.
Her final project was working on the Dundee Tapestry which she displayed at various SWRI meetings, Guilds and at the Royal Tay Yacht Club before some panels went on show at the V&A.
John said: “She died north of the Arctic Circle in the land of the midnight sun on midsummer day, the day of greatest brightness, when she was at her greatest brightness, and that is how we should remember her.”
You can read the family’s announcement here.
