Friday, March 18, 2011
In affectionate memory of my uncle Ian Stewart, 1926--2011.
Ian was the youngest of my father John's brothers.
My earliest memories of Ian are during the early to mid 1940s, kicking a ball with me around "the Papery" in Brechin, beside the River South Esk; my father and my other Stewart uncles were away in the War, but Ian was too young. At that time my mother, with me and my brother Gordon, lived in River Street just across the road from Meikle Mill, where Grandma Stewart had the house, into which Ian moved much later, before he moved to Canada.
My most vivid memory, though, is of Ian's return from South Africa; he'd gone out there to his brother David, and worked there for a bit. We lived in Perth at that time, and I recall the great excitement, with my father and me and my brothers all going to the Station to meet him and help carry his luggage. Of course he was deeply tanned, and made us all look pathetically pale. We had an enjoyable few days hearing all about his experiences, before he returned to Brechin.
For some reason we kept one of the boxes his things had been packed in, and from then on it was always my father's toolbox. It was a funny thing to keep memories fresh, but it always had that effect, and getting out a hammer or screwdriver we always wondered how Ian and his family were getting on.
Well, the brothers have now all passed on: Davey, Don, John, Sandy, Ian, and their sister Jean too. And of course it's many years since we laid John Morris to rest in Brechin Cemetery, and since we scattered Alexina Stewart's ashes in Blackburn.
May they all rest in peace.
Brian Stewart,
with
my wife Jennifer (born Russell)
my daughter Margaret and her husband John Patterson
my son David and his wife Sally, and their son Mark.
