Tributes are paid to greengrocer Wilma McAllan who has died at the age of 85 after suffering a stroke earlier this year.
Wilma McAllan was known as "Granny Mac" to the customers who flocked to her fruit shop on Bread Street for more than 20 years.
Family described the business, Mac's Fruit Shop, as "being her life" – a place where she entertained customers with her
good humour and energetic charm, a well as confusing them, at times, with her strong accent.
Wilma Gibb was born on May 14, 1923 in Aberdeen where she was raised and schooled, before falling in love and marrying dairy farmer Ted McAllan.
The pair had three children – Wilma, Morag and Elizabeth – and moved across Scotland many times with Ted's work, arriving in Loanhead more than 50 years ago, a place she decided never to leave.
At her funeral on Thursday, mourners paid tribute to a mother who always put her family first, working every hour possible to provide for them.
At no time was this more strongly shown than when ill-health struck Ted, leaving him unable to continue working.
Daughter Morag said: "Mum's family was her number one – she worked her whole life for us. In her eyes, she was definitely way down the line of importance. Even her cats and the birds in the garden came before her."
Wilma crammed so much into her 85 years, with a CV that boasted, among many jobs, being a wardrobe mistress at Edinburgh's Empire Theatre. It was here she proudly served the stars, including taking personal charge of Margo Fontane's wig.
Morag said: "She told us so many stories about her time at the theatre – she loved it.
"She was even offered a job as a wardrobe mistress with the Russian Ballet, but because of my sisters and dad, she said no."
During World War Two, when Wilma was about to train as a dress maker, she instead signed up to help the war effort, working as a crane driver and in an ammunitions factory.
Other roles throughout her life included being a dairy maid and working in a bakers.
But it was at Mac's Fruit Shop – which she opened with daughter Liz after Ted's death in the early 1970s – where she truly came into her own, establishing herself as a successful businesswoman.
Morag said: "The shop attracted people from all walks of life, from business workers and monks, to prostitutes, homeless people and dancers from the nearby pubs.
"Provided everyone behaved themselves, my mum served them all – lord and lady."
At just 5ft 1inch tall, Wilma once chased a man who had stolen an apple from her shop – retrieving it from his mouth.
A proud wife, mother, sister and grandmother, Wilma had many friends across the country. At her funeral, nurses from Ellen's Glen Hospital where she died even came out to pay their respects.
The full article contains 493 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
