The funeral has taken place of an Arbroath couple who died within 36 hours of each other.
Ronald, 83, and Lorna Kidd, 78, had been married for 57 years and were parents to four girls.
Lorna took ill at home and was taken to Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, where she died on October 20.
Ron, who been living at an Arbroath care home, died the following day.
Second heartbreak
The couple’s four daughters had been preparing to break the news of their mother’s death to their father when they were informed that Ron had sadly died also.
“We have to think that somehow he had sensed our mother’s death. They were people of faith. They are together now and at peace,” the family said.
Ronald, known as Ron, was a sportsman of note. He was an outstanding cricketer, champion bowler and a football referee at senior level.
He was often seen running the line at top division matches and was invited to Russia by UEFA to run the line in a match between Moscow Dynamo and AEK Athens.
Ron was born in Arbroath, the second son of Arch and Mary Kidd.
After leaving Arbroath High School he started working life as an apprentice mechanic at Lamb’s Garage.
After his two years’ National Service in the army, he returned to Lamb’s Garage but then made a move into sales with United Biscuits.
His father had run a grocer’s shop near to where the indoor bowling now stands, so Ron was a familiar face in the trade.
Fish retailing
As supermarkets opened and independent shops closed, Ron soon moved into the fish selling business, travelling over a wide area of Scotland for the next 20 years.
Lorna, a native of Shetland, was the daughter of Lawrence and Jessie Halcrow who ran a cafe in Lerwick.
When she left school, she trained as a nurse at Stracathro Hospital, Brechin, and later in her career worked as a home help manager with Angus Council.
Both played an active role in the life of St Vigeans Church and Lorna also volunteered with Citizens Advice and the Girls’ Brigade.
It was on a Saturday night visit to the Marine Ballroom in Arbroath that Lorna met Ron when he was asked to give her a lift home to Brechin.
They married in 1965 when Lorna had qualified and set up home in Arbroath. Daughter Sandra was born in 1966, Alison in 1967 and twins Andrea and Heather in 1975.
When the girls were older, Lorna went to work at Arnotts House of Fraser in High Street before managing the council’s home help team. She also had spells working at St Vigeans and Seaton Grove care homes.
Outside work, Lorna enjoyed seeing friends, swimming, gardening and bowling.
Ron was a skilled cricketer and by the age of 54, he had taken 1,000 wickets for Arbroath Cricket Club.
Columnist
He was a member of Lochlands Bowling Club and Arbroath Indoor Bowling Club where he was triples champion in 2013, and he will be remembered for writing a weekly sports column in the Arbroath Herald.
Ron was a member of the Probus Club in the town, a singer in Arbroath Male Voice Choir and a great lover of Scottish music.
You can read the family’s announcement here.