John Crichton, who was known to his friends as Jack, ran the Brief Encounter pub in Stockbridge and Rose Street's Rose and Crown pub.
Born on June 13, 1926 in Prestonfield Avenue, his father was a carpenter and his mother, a native of Newcastle, w
as a housewife.
After attending James Clark School in the 1930s, Mr Crichton joined the Army in the 1940s and served his country in a number of foreign lands in the immediate post-war period, including Palestine, Malta and Malaya.
In the early 1950s he was stationed at Edinburgh Castle and it was while there that he agreed to go on a blind date with Jean Graham.
The date, arranged by one of Jean's colleagues, led to love at first sight and Jean and Jack were married in 1952.
Mrs Crichton did not want to be a soldier's wife, however, leading Mr Crichton to leave the Army and enter the pub trade.
His first position was as a cocktail barman at the George Hotel on George Street, and this was followed by a spell working at the Norton House Hotel in Ingliston.
By the early 1960s he was ready to take the step up and joined Scottish and Newcastle, who appointed him manager of the Rose and Crown pub on Rose Street.
He took over the running of the pub, while his wife took charge of the then unusual service of bar meals.
As daughter Louise Gibson says: "My mum pretty much introduced bar food on Rose Street."
During his career Mr Crichton served a number of celebrities, perhaps most notably film star Cary Grant, entertainer Dorothy Paul and actor Graham Crowden.
He also gained a reputation as something of a joker and would amuse regular customers by suspiciously asking any unknown faces that walked through the door whether they were members.
He stayed with the Rose and Crown until 1978 when he took over John's Bar in Stockbridge, which his wife Jean christened the Brief Encounter. He held the tenancy there until November 1995.
The pub was named not in homage to the David Lean film, but due to the fact that friends of the Crichton's visiting the pub would always leave early due to Stockbridge being away from the centre of the town.
It led every such meeting at the pub to be dubbed "a brief encounter."
Though the pub has since changed its name, it was held in such affection by regulars that it is still known locally as "the Briefy".
Mr Crichton was also an active member of the UK Bartenders Guild, serving as treasurer of its east of Scotland branch up to 1990.
He retired as a publican at the age of 67, and enjoyed spending time with his children and grandchildren, especially on trips to Dunbar. Sadly, he was struck with Parkinson's disease two years after retirement.
He died as a result of a chest infection in Pentland Hills nursing home on June 10, three days before his 82nd birthday.
He is survived by his wife Jean, children John, Margaret-Ann, Stuart and Louise and by his grandchildren Jack and Frazer.
The full article contains 547 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
