Tributes have been paid to Harold Shirley, who has died at the age of 76.
Harold's selfless devotion to his career in the Scottish Ambulance Service and his love for his family were evidence of his caring and compassionate nature.
He was born at Whitehill, Dalkeith, in 1933, and his family moved to Ormiston when he was
just a few months old. He had one brother, Albert, and two sisters, Annie and Christine. He attended Ormiston Primary School and then St Martin's in Tranent.
After leaving school he became an apprentice electrician for the National Coal Board (NCB), and on completing his apprenticeship remained an employee of the board for 21 years, based mostly in Ormiston.
He and wife Etta met as young neighbours – she was just 15 when they first lived in the same street. They were engaged in 1954 and married in Ormiston Church in 1955. Daughter Eileen was born in 1957, to be followed by David in 1959, and Dawn in 1963.
Harold was a member of the mine's first-aid team, and after many years with the NCB he was, in 1969, able to fulfil a long-held ambition by changing careers to become an ambulance technician with the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Daughter Eileen Bathgate recalled: "It was back in the days where the ambulancemen covering rural areas worked from their own homes. Dad was on call 24 hours a day from 8:30 on a Monday morning till 4:30pm the following Monday. In addition to working 'on call', he had to ferry his patients back and forth for clinic appointments in either Edinburgh or Haddington during normal working hours.
"The phone would ring at all times of the day and night, and he would have to run out the door tying his shoelaces or trying to grab a bite to eat. He often had his Christmas dinner re-heated as he always seemed to be called away in the middle of his meal.
"He never complained and it was the perfect job for somebody with his caring and compassionate nature."
He retired early from the ambulance service in 1992 due to ill health and made the most of his membership of Ormiston Bowling Club. He and Etta also travelled extensively, enjoying holidays in Malta, Cyprus and especially Italy, as he indulged his love of photography with visits to Venice.
A keen photographer, he also did his own developing, converting the space under the stairs into a dark room and later doing the same in the loft.
His family were his biggest passion, though. Eileen said: "He was a fantastic dad, just so caring and he loved us all so much. Our best memories of our dad were our holidays; he used to take us everywhere camping. Once, we packed up in the middle of the night and drove all the way to Wales in one go."
He was particularly pleased that two of his grandchildren had followed him by entering a trade, Steven taking an apprenticeship as a plumber and Stuart as a joiner. He was also proud of his other grandchildren – Louise, Lauren, Gillian and Caron.
Mrs Bathgate added: "He just loved them all. He loved things like Christmas Day when everybody was there together. His greatest love in life, though, was definitely my mother."
Mr Shirley died at Roodlands Hospital, Haddington, on 11 May.
