Devoted carer Mary will be missed by many

MARY FOULDS who has died at the age of 102, devoted her life to caring for others, from her own family to those who were in need of a friend and a helping hand.

Mary Foulds was born in Tipperary, Ireland, on April 20, 1906. She moved to Dunblane with her family during her primary school years. After completing her schooling in Kinbuck and Callander, she took to caring for her family full-time.

Her brother Jack died during the First World War, and another brother, William, died in infancy, but with her parents William and Mary, and two sisters, Peggy and Lily, to care for, she was always busy.

The family moved to Corstorphine in the late 1940s when William senior was employed as head gardener at Saughton Park.

Miss Foulds remained a dedicated carer for her family throughout her life.

Her niece Marjory Fyfe, 60, recalled: "She was very devoted to her family.

"As an aunt, she just did everything for us, she took us on holiday, she made great cakes for us well into her nineties."

Her caring extended beyond the family home, however, and for many years Miss Foulds worked as a volunteer helper at the Gogarburn Club, a social club that was set up to help the disabled.

Mrs Fyfe, who now lives in Alva, said: "The people who went along weren't very able, so she went along there and helped them and entertained them, did crosswords and jigsaws. I think she just enjoyed caring for people and being a friend to them."

Her other passions were gardening and choral singing. Miss Foulds was a member of Dunblane Cathedral Choir when she lived in the town and joined Craigsbank Parish Church choir on moving to Edinburgh, and also sang with the choir of Ella Lamb, a renowned conductor of the time.

Never marrying, Miss Foulds remained fiercely independent until late in life, living in the family house in Craigs Road until the age of 96. She then moved to Struan Lodge nursing home in Balgreen Avenue, Corstorphine.

She was delighted to celebrate her hundredth birthday in 2006 with the traditional telegram from the Queen and a visit from the then Lord Provost, Lesley Hinds.

Mrs Fyfe, a library assistant at the University of Stirling, said: "She didn't think she was that old, she would say 'That old lady over there', pointing at someone who would be about 80. We had a great day on her hundredth birthday with all her family and friends there. The letter from the Queen was in a frame on the wall in her room."

She said the death of her aunt on August 10 was a sad loss for the whole family: "There's a great gap in our lives, to be honest. She enjoyed a joke, even if it was against herself, she was full of fantastic old funny sayings, and she was very devoted to all the family."

She is survived by Mrs Fyfe and her family – husband Jim and children Mark, Dawn and Steven, and nephew Stewart, 58, his wife Lac and children Hamish and Yalee.