This is my dad, Evan Singer Chisholm.
He was born in Carluke in Lanarkshire on the 14th January 1930, and was the eldest of three sons. He left Carluke when he was 17 to join the Royal Navy. His parents and brothers moved to Tighnabruaich, and that was where he met my mum, Rachel Aitken. Dad was still in the navy when they were first married, so they lived for a while in Tighnabruaich, where I was born, then in Helensburgh where my brother George was born. Dad left the navy and went to work in various places as a gardener, chef on board a yacht and van driver before beginning his own business as a coach operator. My brother Evan was born in Glasgow in 1967, when we lived in Bearsden.
Dad was ill for many years, and eventually died in 1972.
Those are the facts, but here are some of my memories...................
I remember someone who used to rub his beard against my face and make it tickle.
I remember someone with a heart so big, there was never any room for mistrust or anger or hurt. Dad would give the shirt off his back to anyone who needed it more than him.
I remember his delight on the day my wee brother Evan was born, and the pride that filled him when he saw both George and I succeed.
I remember the parties we used to have at our caravan near Tighnabruaich, with so many friends always there into the wee small hours.
I remember dad trying to teach mum to drive and them falling out over it, but I remember the hours he spent teaching me and my brother in the fields, then on the road.
I remember his love for his country and his family and the first time he let us stay up for the New Year, with a glass of port and lemonade to toast the year in.
I remember the many skills he taught us; building walls; laying floorboards; painting windows and doors; putting up wallpaper; cleaning out coaches properly; knitting; making carpets; using hammers and saws and screwdrivers and many other tools.
And I remember the fun we used to have playing with him, carrying on, having a laugh.
He was a man full of love, loved by all who knew him and remembered with huge affection as the days go by without him.
He was born in Carluke in Lanarkshire on the 14th January 1930, and was the eldest of three sons. He left Carluke when he was 17 to join the Royal Navy. His parents and brothers moved to Tighnabruaich, and that was where he met my mum, Rachel Aitken. Dad was still in the navy when they were first married, so they lived for a while in Tighnabruaich, where I was born, then in Helensburgh where my brother George was born. Dad left the navy and went to work in various places as a gardener, chef on board a yacht and van driver before beginning his own business as a coach operator. My brother Evan was born in Glasgow in 1967, when we lived in Bearsden.
Dad was ill for many years, and eventually died in 1972.
Those are the facts, but here are some of my memories...................
I remember someone who used to rub his beard against my face and make it tickle.
I remember someone with a heart so big, there was never any room for mistrust or anger or hurt. Dad would give the shirt off his back to anyone who needed it more than him.
I remember his delight on the day my wee brother Evan was born, and the pride that filled him when he saw both George and I succeed.
I remember the parties we used to have at our caravan near Tighnabruaich, with so many friends always there into the wee small hours.
I remember dad trying to teach mum to drive and them falling out over it, but I remember the hours he spent teaching me and my brother in the fields, then on the road.
I remember his love for his country and his family and the first time he let us stay up for the New Year, with a glass of port and lemonade to toast the year in.
I remember the many skills he taught us; building walls; laying floorboards; painting windows and doors; putting up wallpaper; cleaning out coaches properly; knitting; making carpets; using hammers and saws and screwdrivers and many other tools.
And I remember the fun we used to have playing with him, carrying on, having a laugh.
He was a man full of love, loved by all who knew him and remembered with huge affection as the days go by without him.