Tributes

The High School of Dundee was deeply saddened to learn that our former Rector, Robert Nimmo (OBE., MA., MEd., FBIM., FRSA), died peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday 9th November 2021.

Robert Nimmo (or Bob, as he was known as to his family, friends and colleagues), took up the position of Rector in 1977, a role in which he remained for the following 20 years.

Having studied at the University of Edinburgh and graduated with Double Honours in French and German, Robert officially began his teaching career at George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh. During his 19 successful and fulfilling years there, he was promoted first to Head of French and then to Depute Headmaster before being appointed to HSD in 1977. Prior to beginning his teaching career, he worked for the Army’s Intelligence Corps where he trained as a Russian Interpreter.

Whilst working full-time, Robert received his Master of Education degree and, based on his thesis on “Independent Schools in the United States”, was awarded a scholarship where he spent six weeks visiting independent schools and institutions across the USA.

Throughout his career, Robert gained a significant reputation as a leading educationist and was influential in the development of Scottish education. This was largely due to his appointments with major educational agencies including: Convener of the Modern Languages Panel of the Scottish Examination Board; member of the Scottish Central Committee on the Curriculum; member of the Governing Board of the SEB (later its Vice-Chair); and his involvement with the 5-14 Programme, the Howie Committee and Higher Still. The latter two bodies had a direct impact on the reform of upper secondary education, as well as reshaping the Scottish educational system.

As a result of his personal commitment to educational development and the quality of his contributions, Robert was awarded an OBE in 1990 for his services to education. As well as highlighting his own successes and contributions, it further enhanced the reputation of HSD as one of Scotland’s leading schools.

During his two decades leading the School, Robert steered the transition in status from Grant-Aided to Independent School, which enabled HSD to raise its own finances through the introduction of school fees. His dynamic leadership resulted in an effective and essential senior management team and the development of an attractive educational experience. He was also instrumental in the promotion of the Assisted Places Scheme, which offered young people from all backgrounds the opportunity to benefit from an HSD education.

Throughout his tenure as Rector, Robert also oversaw the expansion of the F6 curriculum; he encouraged senior pupils to pursue more advanced study and to broaden their overall educational experience. Such enhancements resulted in increased year group sizes. He was supportive in terms of developing extracurricular experiences as well as academic ones. For example, he extended the activities available to include choral and instrumental opportunities, drama, debating, the CCF, Duke of Edinburgh and the popular “Friday 9” activities. He spearheaded the launch of the School’s charitable Interact Club and the Young Enterprise Groups, which served to provide even more opportunities to our senior years pupils and are still popular today.

A keen traveller himself, Robert was influential in developing the School’s calendar of foreign exchange visits and trips. In the years following this expansion, pupils travelled to countries including France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Switzerland and the USA. Sports teams were fortunate to venture to Canada and The Netherlands, while Music and Drama groups travelled to Vienna, Salzburg and Prague to perform for a wide variety of audiences.

Above all, Robert’s active encouragement and steady support of all aspects of school life were essential in providing our pupils with access to a wide range of opportunities; academic, sports and extra-curricular.

Bob Nimmo was devoted to the High School and maintained his links and interest with the school throughout his retirement. He and his wife Hilary were regular guests at all the key events in the school calendar and he was always keen to be up to date with all that was going on behind the pillars. He took time to lend his support to all aspects of school life and remained a champion for the purpose, drive and ambition of the school.

You can read our tribute to Mr. Nimmo in full on our website here: www.highschoolofdundee.org.uk/news-and-events/news/ robert-nimmo-obe

Born in Dundee in 1921, Lockhart went on to secure a scholarship in 1938 from the High School of Dundee to study medicine at the University of St Andrews. Graduating with his MBChB with commendation in April 1944, Lockhart was immediately commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps having passed Certificate B in the OTC.

On the evening of D-Day, he was in Bradford Royal Infirmary, treating casualties from the Normandy landings. Lockhart was then sent on an intensive and exacting course at the London School of Tropical Medicine, with a view to being posted to S.E. Asia.

Lockhart was then promoted to Captain and posted as Regimental Medical Officer (RMO) with the Royal West African Frontier Force in Burma and was posted to the 30th West African Casualty Clearing Station within the 82nd West African Division.

By the end of 1947, Lockhart worked in Bradford Royal Infirmary gaining medical and surgical experience. He then received further training in radiology at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and St Thomas’s Hospital, London from where he was appointed Consultant Radiologist in administrative charge to South West Scotland, based at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary. He also developed the General Practitioner Reference Service which proved of great benefit to the GPs and their patients.

Come retirement, Lockhart still assisted colleagues at Longmore Hospital, in West Cumbria. He also managed to obtain a BA(Hons) degree in Arts from the Open University, its Vice Chancellor being none other than his old High School of Dundee classmate Sir Walter Perry. He also started a law degree with the OU at the age of 80 and only gave up when he found it impossible to write fast enough in the exams.

A great traveller and adventurer. Lockhart almost made it to what would become Everest Base Camp whilst on leave in 1945, became President of the Galloway Mountaineering Club and helped install the first ski-lift at Glenshee. Above all, Lockhart will be remembered for his superb paintings, his kindness, wonderful sense of humour, courtesy, generosity and humility and lastly but no less, for his compassion and gift of healing.

On 2nd September 2020, aged 99, Lockhart passed away. He is survived by his wife, Anne (née Cruikshank), whom he married in 1970, his son William and two grandchildren.

Obituary sourced from The Scotsman, 17th December 2020.

Alexander Ritchie Murray, known as Sandy, died at the age of 95 on 29 June 2021 after a long, happy and fulfilling life. He will be remembered as a most amazing, inspirational, proud and canny Scot who was so interested and supportive of his family throughout his life.

Sandy was born on the 9 May 1926 in Dundee and attended Dundee High School from 1936-43. He was passionately proud of his connections with the School, and attended numerous ‘Class of ’43’ reunions together with his fellow classmates. He went on to graduate as a Civil Engineer in 1945. He then spent three years in the Army with postings to Mecktila, Burma and Taiping. Sandy then began his 43-year career with Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners in 1948.

Sandy was a very gifted and committed engineer and dealt with many jobs including dams, bridges, harbour works, irrigation projects, water treatment plants, pipelines and largescale roadworks. His work took him all over the UK from Pitlochry, working on the Clunie Dam and Tunnel projects, to Cheltenham and then onto Edinburgh. Sandy also worked in many countries across the world, but it was his stint in Iran that he would probably consider a highlight. Posted to Tehran in 1963 as Senior Resident Engineer he was involved in building a water supply for the city, as well as numerous irrigation projects around Iran. He became the firm’s chief representative in Tehran and remained there until 1971. Sandy then returned to Gibb’s Head Office in London and was made a Partner of the firm. Sandy continued to work on a wide variety of UK projects before retiring in 1991 after 43 years with Gibb, 20 of them as a partner. An incredible full and rewarding career.

Many of Sandy’s interests were interwoven with his working life. He was an avid reader and his collection of books needed to be seen to be believed – reading remained a huge passion right until the end if his life. He particularly loved reading about Scotland. He also had a lifelong love of golf and played as a member of numerous clubs winning quite a stash of crystal and silverware! He was an ardent Scottish rugby supporter throughout his life. During his retirement he and his wife, Eilidh (1932 – 2018) were fortunate to experience several memorable holidays around the world, including to India, North and South America, Australia and New Zealand, often visiting family members. But it was in the hills and glens of the Scottish Highlands that Sandy truly felt at home. He loved planning walking and fishing trips for all the family and these inspired his wonderful Scottish poetry and sketches of the landscape that formed the basis of his watercolour paintings.

Sandy and Eilidh packed so much into their lives and they will be greatly missed by their children Fiona, Jane, Kirsty, Angus and their families.

Born and brought up in Dundee’s Nelson Terrace, Bill was the youngest of three brothers, who were all involved in the family firm, Dryden’s, started by their grandfather. The locally run business sold flowers, fruit and vegetables at a number of shops in Dundee.

Bill was educated at Dundee High School and Strathallan. After leaving school in 1947, he spent the next four years learning the trade with a firm of potato merchants in Huntly and the Glasgow Fruit Market.

From there, he moved back to the family business as it expanded into wholesale and started up a frozen food department. In the mid-1960s the family decided to split the firm, Bill’s share being the retail shops in Castle Street and Broughty Ferry as well as a unit in the Dundee wholesale fruit and vegetable market.

In the late 1980s, with the closing down of the wholesale trade and the rise of the supermarkets, Bill decided to sell the business and retired in 1992.

Bill was a keen golfer and joined Panmure Golf Club in 1953. He was captain of the club in 1983, and in 1996 completed a book of anecdotes and photographs to mark its 150th anniversary. Bill was also a member of the R&A and a member of the Seniors Golfers’ Society, where he had the opportunity to play with teams in many other countries, often accompanied by his wife Inez, also a keen golfer.

His other interests included rugby and curling. Over the years Bill was president of Pitkerro Curling Club, Dundee High School FP Rugby Club, Dundee High School Old Boys’ Club and the Junior Chamber of Commerce.

He also joined the Bonnetmaker and the Baker Crafts, two of the Nine Incorporated Trades of Dundee and was an Elder at St. Andrew’s Parish Church in Dundee. Latterly he was a regular attender of Broughty Ferry Probus Club.

Following an illness, Bill sadly passed away in October 2020 at the age of 91. Described by many as a true gentleman, he will be remembered for his outgoing personality, his generosity and kindness towards others, his sharp wit and his many recitals of poetry from memory.

Bill is survived by his wife, Inez, daughter Sally, son Christopher and grandson Max.

Parts of the obituary sourced from The Courier, 28th October 2020.

Kenneth joined F1 from Ardrossan Academy when his family moved to Wormit. Academically able and a keen sportsman, he was a member of the rugby and tennis teams, also enjoying golf and squash. Above all, as a member of the CCF, he looked forward to Friday parades. Another interest was membership of 34th Fife (1st Newport) Scouts, where in 1954 he achieved the distinction of Queen’s Scout. On leaving school, he began studying Pure Science at Queen’s College in Dundee, then still part of the University of St Andrews.

His studies were interrupted by knee surgery. Once home after discharge, call-up papers for National Service awaited him. Soon realising that this was his bent he opted to join the Corps of Royal Engineers. Selected for officer training at Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, coming top Cadet of his Intake and entering Regular Service, he served two tours of duty in West Germany. He also partook in Arctic training on secondment to Norwegian Forces and completed two tours in Sarawak, one of two East Malaysian states on the landmass of Borneo during the ‘Confrontation’ with hostile Indonesia in the 1960s. It was during his second tour there that Kenneth sustained severe injuries, particularly to his head, putting an end to his promising army career.

After a lengthy recovery in the UK and medical discharge, Kenneth began civil engineering work on the M90. It was while working in Edinburgh that he met his wife Ketron. After their marriage, they set up home in London where Kenneth worked for five years. Their daughter Fiona (Class of 1991) was born there.

Returning to Scotland, the family settled in Invergowrie. A keen lifelong philatelist, Kenneth enjoyed bridge, was Treasurer of the local Conservative Association and served a term as member of the Old Boys’ Club Committee. When the Queen consented to the Malaysian Government awarding medals to those who had taken part in the ‘Confrontation’ with Indonesia in the 1960s, in 2010 he was invested in Perth with the Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal, surprising the Malaysian Defence Attaché on being greeted and thanked in his own language. Wherever he went, Kenneth attracted people to him, learning the language in each foreign posting, frequently recognised in Britain and further afield by former military colleagues whom he may not have seen since leaving the army. 24 years ago, Kenneth and Ketron moved to St Andrews where he was a President of the Probus Club and an Elder of Hope Park Church. Both were volunteer guides at Falkland Palace and Hill of Tarvit Mansion-house.

Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Dementia, Kenneth spent the last six years of his life as a resident of Glasgow Erskine Care Home, dying of Covid-19 in November 2020. He is survived by Ketron, his daughter Fiona, granddaughters Grace and Maisie, brother Dair and sister Maureen (Class of 1966).

Alan Robertson (Class of 1953), Friend of Kenneth

Neil was born in Edinburgh, the second of four children. His father, Professor Sir Donald Douglas, became President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and his mother Di was a superb full-time homemaker. He was brought up in Dundee and educated at Dundee High School and Glenalmond College. This was followed by preclinical medicine at St Andrews University and clinical studies in Edinburgh. He graduated with distinctions in medicine, surgery and therapeutics.

He became a specialist in respiratory and sleep medicine and built an international reputation both personally and for the Department of Sleep Medicine in Edinburgh. He was also heavily involved in teaching and training as President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and founding Chairman of the UK Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management.

Training as a respiratory physician, Neil became interested in sleep apnoea, a previously under-recognised condition in which patients have interruption of their breathing patterns during sleep.

Through research in Edinburgh and Denver, Colorado, Neil investigated the causes and consequences of the syndrome, its diagnosis and its management using Continuous Positive Airways Pressure (CPAP). It has proven highly cost-effective and is now used all over the world. Modified versions of CPAP machines have been used in the treatment of respiratory failure as a result of Covid-19.

Neil was an excellent doctor who gave patients the time and care they demanded. He was modest, approachable and gave praise where it was due, and in the many tributes to him “integrity” was the most frequently used word. A man of enormous energy, he was in great demand to lecture all over the world.

He received a knighthood in 2009 for services to medicine. He married his wife Sue (née Galloway) in 1977 and she is a retired GP. Together they have a son, Sandy, and a daughter, Kirsty. Sandy is a pharmaceutical physician and one of the leaders of the University of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine development team. Kirsty is a trainee in palliative care medicine, sharing her father’s emphasis upon high standards of clinical care and training.

When his busy schedule allowed, Neil loved to retreat to the retirement house which he and Sue built on the banks of Loch Tay. He also loved gardening, hill-walking and fishing. He regarded his family and his home as his greatest achievements.

Neil sadly passed away from lung cancer at the age of 71 on August 23rd 2020.

Parts of the obituary sourced from The Scotsman, 28th May 2021.

Born in May 1953, Aileen attended Ancrum Road Primary School before enrolling at the High School of Dundee. She went on to study her LLB law degree at the University of Edinburgh from 1970 until 1974, graduating with a first. She completed her traineeship with Dundee City Council, qualifying as a Solicitor in 1976.

Aileen was the Principal Solicitor for Dundee City Council and was heavily involved with the city’s early waterfront regeneration. Additionally, she was responsible for the burial of Dundee’s destitute dead and would actively go to great lengths to find out their faith to ensure they received the appropriate funeral.

As well as this, Aileen was involved in the complex land acquisition issues at Dundee Waterfront and became an expert in deciphering historical title deeds of the new area. Her hard work laid the groundwork for the current redevelopment, including that of the V&A.

In 1980, Aileen married Douglas and the pair went on to have two daughters together - Katherine and May.

In her early 50s, Aileen was diagnosed as having early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and so took early retirement. As she adapted to her condition, she became involved with a local Alzheimer’s group, attending art classes and various outings.

As her condition progressed, Aileen required full-time care, which was provided by Tigh Na Muirn care home in Monifieth, where she lived for the last seven-and-a-half years.

In July 2021, at the age of 68, Aileen sadly passed away. Her daughter Katherine, who is also a Solicitor, recalls “Mum was a great lover of the arts, music, history and enjoyed curling”.

A JustGiving page was set up in Aileen’s memory to raise money for Alzheimer Scotland.

Obituary sourced from Scottish Legal News, 6th July 2021.

Alison was born on 30th November 1957 and brought up in Invergowrie. She was the elder daughter of Enid and the late Sinclair Gauldie (Class of 1936) and sister of Robin (class of 1973) and Becca (class of 1986).

After leaving school, Alison completed a BA at the University of Edinburgh and then spent a year as an au pair in Spain. Following that, she lived and worked in the third sector in London, where she met her husband, Miles.

Miles and Alison married in 1995 and after the birth of their daughter, Holly, they moved to Johnshaven in Kincardineshire.

Alison continued working professionally in the voluntary sector in several roles, latterly with ACVO, which helps to develop and support the third sector in Aberdeen. Having returned to Scotland, Alison renewed friendships with many of her schoolfriends.

Her love of Spain was still extraordinarily strong, and she took part in two Caminos in recent years, despite still being a staunch Atheist. She remained close friends with the Spanish schoolgirl she met on exchange from DHS, April Bofill.

In 2016 Alison was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer of the appendix, goblet cell carcinoma. The cancer had metastasised, and she had to undergo major emergency surgery and chemotherapy. However, Alison recovered sufficiently to undertake her second Camino and to continue working. As part of her recovery, she took up painting, a subject she had enjoyed whilst at school.

In September 2020 she began to feel unwell again and in January 2021 was told the cancer had returned. Daughter Holly had just announced her engagement and she and her partner chose to bring the date of the wedding forward to June 2021. Before Alison died, she was able to help plan the event. Holly was, without doubt, the most important person in her life and it meant a great deal to her, giving her something positive to focus on.

On April 14th 2021, Alison died peacefully in Aberdeen’s Roxburghe House. She is survived by her husband, daughter, mother, and siblings.

Deborah, always Debbie or Debs to her schoolfriends, was born on 19th April 1969 in Edinburgh and brought up in Dundee and Kirkton of Balmerino, by Bill and Ina. She started DHS in L1 and many of the friends she met then remained close friends. Her parents were always most welcoming, and many people will remember happy times spent in Balmerino and her mother’s wonderful food.

After leaving school, Debbie completed a BA (Hons) at Newcastle Polytechnic in Fashion Design and then spent a year working in Barcelona, followed by a year in Chile, before settling in London. In London she worked for a company who provided statistics for the fashion industry.

She married and moved to Leeds and although the marriage did not last, she and her husband had two daughters together, Lily and Violet. The girls were her pride and joy. When they were grown up, her plan was to return to Kirkton of Balmerino to be with her widowed mother, but sadly, she died before this could happen.

Debbie suffered debilitating ill health for much of her adult life. But in September 2019 she was diagnosed with cancer and she died on 11th December 2019 in Leeds.

She is survived by her mother, who still lives in Balmerino, and the girls, Lily and Violet. She is dearly missed by her many friends.