ELIZABETH NICOLL, a former teacher at Rockwell High School, Dundee, who became an internationally recognisable figure through her involvement with the Girls’ Brigade, has died. She was 71.

Mrs Nicoll died at Tayside Nursing Home, in Perth, on Saturday after a long illness.

She is survived by her husband Douglas and daughter Lizzi.

Mrs Nicoll was born Elizabeth Jane Anderson in Dundee in 1936. She attended Dundee’s Rockwell Primary School and Harris Academy and then studied at St Andrews University, graduating in 1958.

After a year’s teacher training at Dundee Training College she began a long and distinguished career as a teacher at Rockwell High.

She remained at the school, reaching the position of assistant principal teacher of English, until her retirement in 1997.

Mrs Nicoll is perhaps best known for her work with the Girls’ Brigade, which took her across the globe and saw her become international president—the organisation’s top job.

Her affiliation with the Girls’ Brigade began in 1941 when she joined the Girls’ Guildry as it was then known.

She became commissioner of the Dundee division of the Girls’ Brigade in 1969 and was national president from 1974-80. She served as international senior vice-president before being elected international president in 1983.

In 1989 Mrs Nicoll was made an OBE for services to the Girls’ Brigade.

“She was dynamic and driven—a passionate person who was deeply committed to her family, the Girls’ Brigade and to her work as a teacher,” her daughter Lizzi said.

“Because she taught in one school for such a long time, whenever we were out shopping together she would always meet people that she had taught, and whose children she had also gone on to teach.

“She was an inspirational person and she touched so many lives.”

The funeral service will be held at Menzieshill Parish Church, Dundee, tomorrow at 10.30am, followed by a short service at Dundee Crematorium at 11.45am.

Donations can be made to Alzheimer’s Research Trust, www.alzheimers- research.org.uk