An Arbroath man has built a permanent memorial to his “soulmate” wife.
David McGregor’s tribute to his late wife Heather will be a permanent fixture on the lawn in front of Dundee and Angus College’s Arbroath campus.
The Japanese-themed artwork, which is mostly made from metal, took around three-and-a-half years to complete.
It includes a poem down one side that David wrote about Heather, who he says was the inspiration behind the design.
Dundee and Angus College course came from a promise
The pair met at the Marine Ballroom in Arbroath in 1969.
Less than two years later they wedded in Carnoustie.
A marriage lasting 48 years came to a heartbreaking end when Heather passed away, aged 66, in 2019.
It followed a four-year fight against bowel cancer.
“Six months before she died, she said, ‘Make a promise that you will go to college’,” David recalled.
And indeed he did.
Monument influenced by David McGregor’s Ju-Ju-Tsu background
The 71-year-old followed his passion and enrolled in an HND art class at Dundee and Angus College, where he acquired a degree.
While there, he also designed and built the monument in Heather’s memory.
David is well known in the community as a Scottish instructor of the martial art Ju-Ju-Tsu, running classes at Arbroath Sports Centre.
And this influence is apparent in the memorial, with its design based on a Japanese sword handle.
LOVE and WIFE are also written in Japanese calligraphy, on the opposite side to the poem.
Heather McGregor ‘won’t be forgotten’
David is thankful to the college art department for help with the metalwork, and local builder Ian Smith for laying down the concrete plinth.
The project was financed by David and his family, including sons Scott, 47, and Kevin, 45.
“It was all for her,” David said of his beloved late wife.
“Heather was my soulmate.
“She was a really caring person.
“She was the gel that kept together me, Scott and Kevin.
“Anybody can now see this beautiful monument.
“Heather McGregor certainly won`t be forgotten.”
Conversation