A well-known figure in the East Neuk has died five years after being diagnosed with a rare condition.
Ian Gordon Birrell, 71, suffered from the degenerative brain disease progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and died at home on Tuesday.
Mr Birrell and wife Elizabeth ran the Craw’s Nest Hotel in Anstruther for 23 years and he was a highly respected figure and honorary member of the town’s Rotary Club.
Following his diagnosis with PSP, he and Elizabeth raised around £30,000 to help other people suffering from the illness which causes difficulty with balance, movement, vision and speech.
Born and brought up in Danbury, Essex, Mr Birrell was brought to the East Neuk by his father John as a child to recuperate from an illness and returned to visit during school holidays.
As a young adult he decided to move to the area and met Elizabeth, who soon became his fiancee.
His father-in-law-to-be, Eddie Clarke, had opened the Craw’s Nest Hotel in 1965 and two years later invited Mr Birrell to join him in the business.
It was in the hotel which he ran until he retired in 2000 that he and Elizabeth celebrated their marriage in 1968.
The couple had two children, Liza and Ian.
During his two decades at the Craw’s Nest, Mr Birrell served as president of Fife Licensed Trade Association and the local curling club and twice he was president of Anstruther Rotary Club.
As his health deteriorated, Mrs Birrell continued to raise funds for the PSP Association.
Before her husband’s death she was planning a jazz afternoon for the charity in the Craw’s Nest Hotel on Sunday October 19.
Instead of cancelling the event, which will be held two days after his funeral, the family have decided to make it a celebration of his life.
Sister-in-law Eleanor Bowman said: “He will be sadly missed by many, many people.
“In running the hotel, he was involved in so many people’s lives. The whole town is in mourning.”
Mr Birrell is survived by wife Elizabeth, mother Louisa, his two children and grandchildren Scott and Julian.