A mystery bench tribute has summed up the community’s love for former Aberfeldy newsagent Billy Duff, says his humbled brother.
Billy passed away at Perth Royal Infirmary in December after an 18-month battle with kidney cancer.
He was hugely popular in the Perthshire town in which he spent his entire 66 years.
Billy’s funeral at the parish church was one of the biggest held in Aberfeldy for many years.
More than 400 attended in person thanks to a room with a big screen next to the nave, while at least 100 watched on Zoom.
There were also hundreds lining the town’s streets as a piper performed after the service.
After the funeral a note was placed on the Crieff Road bench dedicated to Dementia Friendly Aberfeldy by the adjacent fire station.
The touching poem calls Billy ‘our very own Willy Wonka’ and says he was ‘as eternal as Santa’.
“We don’t even know who wrote it”, said Billy’s brother John Duff, who also leads the Conservative group on Perth and Kinross Council.
“We have seen no attribution to the author but what is written is a lovely sentiment.
“To go to the extent to make the note sums up the way the town loved Billy.”
This obituary pays tribute to Billy’s fine sense of humour, his ability to connect with others and his dedication to Aberfeldy.
Assistant manager at Co-op
William Thomas Duff was the eldest of four children to William and Nancy Duff.
Billy, John, now 63, Alan, 59, and Fiona, 54, were all born at the former Aberfeldy Cottage Hospital in Old Crieff Road.
The family lived in Chapel Street before moving to Tayside Crescent when Billy was 17.
Father William was a bailie on the town council and spent his entire working life – from 14 to 65 – as a butcher in the Co-op when it was in The Square.
It was here, in 1973, that Billy took his first job after leaving school when he was appointed assistant manager.
Six years later he married Jean and they decided, in 1981, to take over a newsagent in Bank Street.
They called it Wade Newsagents but, such was the charisma of its owner, for Aberfeldy folk it was simply known as Billy’s.
Billy was the font of all local news
While Jean was highly supportive and helped whenever she could, she also worked in a bank in Aberfeldy.
Billy, meanwhile, was fully invested in the newsagent.
It was open from 6am every single day of the year apart from on December 25.
John says his brother made it a real-life version of a local Facebook page.
“It was a hub for what was going on in the town before social media became a thing,” he said.
“He was a people person and enjoyed meeting and speaking to them in the shop.
“People would say that the shop and Billy were an institution because everything that happened in Aberfeldy you would know about from the shop.
“Billy would be the font of all local news.”
Youngsters would return after leaving town
Billy was a favourite with all sections of the community, including schoolchildren.
“There would often be a queue of boys and girls waiting to get sweeties,” John said.
“Billy knew them all by name and knew the ones who liked football and what club they liked, and had a chat with them about their most recent match that they were involved in and took an interest.”
He left a lasting impression on many of the young people he served and employed as paper boys and girls.
“If they moved away and came back to visit Aberfeldy a lot of them would come and visit him and let them know how they were doing,” John said.
“People used to nip into Billy’s for a paper and wouldn’t come out for 20 minutes because of the chat and craic going on.”
Hilarious wind-ups were unforgettable
A big sports fan, Billy had a season ticket at Rangers and used to drive fellow supporters unable to access transport to games.
He was a long-term member of Aberfeldy Golf Club, captaining them in 2001.
After he retired he used to cut the grass for the club.
He also enjoyed darts and was partial to the odd flutter on the horses.
Billy was also renowned for his legendary wind-ups.
“On a quiet day in the shop someone would come in and Billy would invent a story,” John said.
“He would say ‘Cristiano Ronaldo is signing for Rangers tomorrow’ and then sit back and wait to see how long it took for someone to come into the shop and repeat the rumour he invented.
“He liked to make up something outrageous and find out if the gossip would spread.”
The Dale Winton of the golf club
One day Billy was sitting in the bar at Kingussie Golf Club after a round of golf with members of his club.
He became aware of a woman looking at him so he made an approach.
“Billy went over to her and said that he couldn’t help but think that he knew her,” John said.
“The woman said ‘yes, I think I know you but I don’t know from where.’
“He replied, ‘you know that’s because I am a television entertainer and perhaps you will have seen my TV show, Supermarket Sweep.’
“The woman said, ‘of course, you’re Dale Winton!'”
At this point, the other members of the golf team couldn’t contain themselves any longer and burst out laughing.
“He was known as Dale Winton of the golf club,” John said.
“He enjoyed pulling people’s legs and having fun with them.”
New café will always be Billy’s
Billy finally retired from the shop in September 2017 after 36 years in charge.
Under new owners it initially remained as a newsagent under the name Honeypot before closing a couple of years later.
It will now be transformed into a new café and training centre by Aberfeldy teacher Nicola Parrott.
“Billy would approve of this,” John said.
“It is a shame that it still won’t be a newsagent but it doesn’t matter what they call the café because it will always be known as Billy’s.”
Poetic tribute to one-of-a-kind
There has been an outpouring of tributes after Billy’s passing on December 23.
Flowers and Rangers scarves were left in the doorway of his old shop and John rates the funeral as “probably the biggest in the area for many, many years”.
Even this week, John got home one night to find a poem had been posted through the door by neighbour and poet, Jon Plunkett.
The poem is below.
“The family have been so comforted by the public response,” John said.
Billy is survived by his wife Jean, his three siblings, son Scott, 46, and granddaughters Cara, 15, and Holly, 13.
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