Golf enthusiast and family man William ‘Bill’ Robertson Stewart has died peacefully at home in Monifieth at the age of 76.
The former captain of Abertay Golf Club, and president of the Monifieth Links Management Committee, was known as Billy to his family and Bill to the many friends and acquaintances he made in the Angus town and further afield.
Bill Stewart’s son Andrew said: “He was such a cheery, happy person who cherished the company of others and the family are devastated by his sudden departure.
“His many grandchildren all thought the world of him. He lived a full life and had many interests, including football, but golf was his big passion in life.
“He was a very intelligent and pragmatic man and these skills, along with his easy nature, saw him fulfil a number of voluntary roles in the sport.”
A sporty childhood
Bill’s childhood was spent in Forres Avenue in Kirkton, Dundee in a house he shared with his parents and siblings John, Jean, Isobel, Margaret, Evelyn and Elizabeth.
Football was his first sporting love. He won the Sports Cup and the league in schools football before going on to play as an amateur with Ashdale in the north east of the city.
He worked “on the milk” as a schoolboy to save up enough money to buy his first set of golf clubs
In 1959, he started work as an apprentice fitter with Cairds jute mill. Around this time he met his first wife, Pat. They had one son Andrew.
Another apprenticeship, this time in golf, was completed at Caird Park over the 9 hole golf course and he decided to pursue this interest at Carnoustie golf links.
Working life
Work took him to NCR where he joined the company’s golf club based in Monifieth, establishing links with the Angus town that would go on to last 50 years.
In 1977, he started work with Watson’s whisky bond, meeting his second wife Norma at the company. They were married in 1980 and step-siblings Eileen, Gordon and Lynne joined Andrew in their home in Pitkerro Road, Dundee.
Due to the economic downturn at the start of the 1980’s Bill and Norma took Andrew and Lynne to South Africa for three years. It was an experience they enjoyed but the family were happy to return to Scotland.
On his return, Bill worked for Stewarts Cream of the Barley before moving to Yorkshire Imperial fittings before he retired.
Latterly Bill, by then widowed and living in Monifieth, met Mary with whom he spent his final years, sharing many happy times and more than one foreign trip, often to visit Lynne and his grandchildren.
Football and poetry
A season ticket holder at Dens, Bill was lucky to attend every home game in Dundee’s run to the European Cup semi-final.
In addition to football, he shared his brother John’s love for Robert Burns and joined the Dundee Burns Club and served as president.
In golf, he remained passionate about getting juniors into the sport, committing his time to help younger players,
He died peacefully at home on December 5.
