Perth civic champion Rosemary Thomson has died at the age of 84.
A service to celebrate her life was held at her beloved St John’s Kirk, where she had been a long-time member and elder.
Rosemary was the wife of retired Perth businessman Michael, who headed whisky blenders and wine merchants Peter Thomson before it was bought by Sir Reo Stakis in 1983.
The couple met during freshers’ week at St Andrews University in 1958 and married three years later.
Rosemary was born and brought up in a home in rural Jamaica which lacked both running water and electricity, the daughter of Alfred Henry, a minister of the Church of Scotland on the island, and Myrtle.
University scholarship
She secured a scholarship to attend the all-girls Hampton Boarding School, where she excelled in music and debating, becoming head girl before being awarded a scholarship to study modern history and English at St Andrews University.
Rosemary travelled to the United Kingdom for the first time on board the banana boat SS Jamaica Producer.
The Thomsons married at St Salvator’s chapel in St Andrews in 1961 and made their home in Perth a year later.
Rosemary immersed herself in the civic and social life of Perth and was a passionate supporter of Perth Festival of the Arts.
Community commitment
She chaired Perth Civic Trust for many years; was a long-serving member of the Red Cross and filled the role of membership consultant with Perthshire Chamber of Commerce.
Rosemary studied to become a blue badge guide for the Scottish Tourist Board and delighted visitors and locals alike with her detailed knowledge of her adopted city and, indeed, Scotland.
Along with her close friend Eva McDonald, she spearheaded a campaign which successfully thwarted the council’s controversial proposal to build a new swimming pool on the South Inch.
Their determined research unearthed the original documentation which had seen the Glover Incorporation of Perth gift the land near Marshall Place on condition that nothing would ever be built on it.
The city’s new pool and ice rink was developed later in Glover Street.
Rosemary was always stylishly turned out, even when walking the dogs, and her favourite designer was Jean Muir.
Leisure time
She may not have shared her husband’s fondness for camping in the Scottish hills but in addition to numerous family trips to visit relatives in Jamaica, in later life their travels took them to Cold War-era Russia, Ukraine, China, Iran, Israel, Nepal and Kashmir, where their houseboat was held-up by gun-toting separatists.
Donations at the St John’s Kirk service were made to Alzheimer Scotland.
Rosemary is survived by her husband Michael, sons Stuart and Andrew, daughter Catriona, eight grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and her younger brother David.
You can read the family’s announcement here.
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