Willie Donald SGC

(Sorry I missed your hair off Willie but there wasn't room if i was to fit in your beard!)

Well it was a pleasant send-off for Willie Donald at Fetteresso Church this week . Willie’s life clearly touched those of many given the numbers that turned out for him, the majority being fellow Stonehaven Golf Club members with friends from the bowling club and masonic lodge too. This was the opposite to a private family funeral and instead was a heartening reminder of how widely revered Willie was during his 73 years.

I respected Willie hugely and I’m confident  all those sat around me at Fetteresso Church on Thursday did too. He wasn’t much of a socialite or party raver, he was a steady eddie with a strong sense of duty to the community in which he lived, a super, reliable bloke. 

My fondest memories of him regard the encouragement he would give us as junior members in the early eighties. While many members walked on by without a word, Willie would always shuffle over for a brief chat then saunter away again serenaded by the jangling collection of keys that hung from his belt strap. He'd look like a jailer who’d forgotten his uniform. He wanted to encourage us, to welcome us to the club, he appreciated that a golf club only thrives when bringing through a conveyor belt of juniors and making sure those juniors build a genuine affinity to their local club. He would let you know if he felt you were out of line, those not repairing divots, leaving bunkers unraked or throwing clubs in fury were gently reprimanded but always  in a fashion that left you told, not humiliated.

Quite who can follow this man as the unofficial custodian of Stonehaven Golf Club I don’t know. There are several people equally as committed but you’d take decades to replicate the service that Willie devoted to his beloved club and he was such a unique character, irreplaceable really. His final weeks were difficult for him but spent right where he wished to be, in Stonehaven with a procession of welcome visitors around him. It’s people like Willie that restore any faith you might have been losing in humankind, a thoroughly decent, faithful and trustworthy chap who will be genuinely sadly missed.