The daughter of a Dundee NCR and Michelin stalwart turned lollipop man has told how her father Ronnie Brady – known to many as “the wee legend” – stirred one last flicker of magic the day before he died.
In a moment that his family say they will treasure forever, eight-year-old Darcie, his great-granddaughter, leaned over to kiss him goodbye as he lay unresponsive in his hospital bed.
“Be very gentle,” her mum Lindsey whispered as Darcie, a pupil at Grange Primary, bent down and gave him a soft kiss.
To everyone’s astonishment, Ronnie, who had been unresponsive, raised his head and kissed her back.
He never opened his eyes again, passing away the next day.
“That was the last known emotion from him,” said his daughter Christine Orrick, 60.
“He never opened his eyes. He just puckered his lips and kissed her.
“We caught it on video. It was beautiful. That’s how I’ll always remember him.”
Ronnie Brady worked in Dundee mills before NCR and Michelin
Ronnie Brady, who died peacefully at Roxburghe House, aged 83, was a man of spirit, energy, and joy.
A wartime baby born on December 2, 1941, in Lochee, he grew up in Douglas and never really left.
His early years were shaped by hard work and humour. His mother worked in the jute mills while his father later worked at NCR.
Ronnie left school young, having attended the former St Joseph’s Primary (now Blackness) and St Michael’s Secondary.
He trained first as a butcher, then moved to the mills where he met his wife, marrying her in 1963 when she was just 17 and he was 21.
Though their marriage ended, their bond remained. “They were always in each other’s lives,” said Christine. “I’m an only child, and I always had both my parents.”
After the mills, Ronnie began work at NCR, then moved on to Michelin, where he took early retirement.
But true to his energetic character, retirement didn’t suit him. “He got bored very easily,” Christine said.
That’s when Ronnie found the role he came to love most.
Ronnie ‘absolutely loved’ working as a lollipop man
He worked as a school crossing patroller at the top of Mains Loan, where pupils from Morgan Academy and local primaries would pass daily.
There, he became not just a fixture but a hero.
“He absolutely loved it,” she said. “That was his favourite job ever. He was surrounded by kids – and they loved him back,” said Christine.
His family knew him not just as the smiling man with the stop sign, but as an acrobat and joker.
Well into his 60s, Ronnie was still doing somersaults over garden gates – a skill honed as a young gymnast in a Dundee club.
Christine remembers that when she was a girl, school friends knocked on the door not for her – but to ask if her dad was coming out to play. He taught kids handstands and cartwheels and told jokes. They adored him.
Known as ‘The Great Ronaldo’ and ‘the wee legend’
Ronnie became known locally as “the wee legend” – partly for his petite frame (5′ 1″ and just over eight stone), but mostly for his larger-than-life charm. Ronnie embraced it.
Anytime a child asked his name, he’d say, ‘I’m The Great Ronaldo,’” said Christine. “Ronnie… Ronaldo. It made sense to him.”
In his final years, Ronnie remained active. Mondays and Thursdays meant bingo at the Fairmuir Social Club – “his second home” – and Wednesdays saw pints with his brother. He kept this up until just a few weeks before he died.
Diagnosed with terminal cancer in February, he’d moved in with Christine after a series of falls. The cancer – which had started as skin cancer on his face – had spread to his lungs and beyond.
Christine said he’ll be remembered as the “life and soul” at family parties. She added: “He never said a bad word about anyone.”
Tributes from across Dundee
Ronnie leaves behind his daughter Christine, granddaughters Leigh-Ann, 42, and Lindsey, 40, and great-granddaughter Darcie, 8 – who gave him that one last kiss.
Tributes have flooded in from across Dundee – from NCR, Michelin, the Fairmuir Club, and countless strangers online.
“They all say the same thing,” Christine said. “He’ll be missed. It won’t be the same without him. And they’re right. He touched so many people.”
A celebration of Ronnie Brady’s life was held at Dundee Crematorium on June 26.
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