Tributes are paid to Alison Evans, 63, a teacher who devoted both her career and retirement to lifelong learning in Edinburgh.
She was born Alison Wright on September 1, 1945. Her Scottish father, as a bank officer, was in a reserved occupation during the war and met her mother, a secretary, in London.
Her parents took her and her older brother, John, briefly to Aberdeen,
before settling in Edinburgh.
She attended the Mary Erskine School and went on to qualify as a teacher at Moray House. She met her husband-to-be, Stuart, in Edinburgh. They were married in 1968.
Alison started her career as a teacher at Balfour School in Edinburgh, initially full-time and eventually going part-time when her two children were born, before moving on to Telford College.
Ill health led to early retirement from frontline teaching, but Alison devoted her energies to volunteer work.
She joined the Disability Income Group, driving for Safeguarding Communities Reducing Offending (Sacro) and working in St Columba's Hospice shop in Leith.
Five years ago, she also joined the board of Women Onto Work (WOW), an organisation dedicated to raising women's aspirations and supporting them in developing their careers and meeting all their family commitments.
Alison was diagnosed with cancer in March 2006, and was given only a few months to live. However, she battled on for a further two years, working for others until the last few days in hospital, where she was visited by many of the friends she had made over the years.
Women Onto Work director Hazel Smith paid tribute to her work with the women of Edinburgh.
She said: "Alison was loved and respected by all the staff and her fellow board members at WOW, and it was a very sad day in our organisation's history when we had to say goodbye to one of the most inspirational women to come through the doors of our organisation, and whose own spirit of tenaciousness and true grit reflected the ethos of our work."
Women Onto Work patron Susan Morrison added: "It's very rare that you stand next to a person and, just by standing next to them, you feel inspired."
She was remembered at a service at Warriston Crematorium last month, and received tributes from many prominent members of the Leith community whose lives she touched, including Lothians MSP Margo MacDonald and Leith Walk councillor Louise Lang.
Ms Lang said: "Alison was such a lively person with real drive and determination. Her commitment to WOW was infectious to us all."
Alison's ex-husband Stuart moved to Australia after they separated, where he died in 2004. She is survived by her two children Sarah and Euan.
The full article contains 459 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
