Mary was born in Ullapool, the eldest child of Kenneth Mackenzie (Buie) who was from Letters and Dora Mackenzie (nee Maclean) of Ullapool. Her mother’s father John Maclean was one of the people evicted from Leckmelm in the early 1880s by the new proprietor, Aberdeen paper merchant Alexander Pirie.

He moved to Ullapool where he worked as a tailor and eventually owned the shop where the Frigate now is.

On his death it was taken over by his son-in-law Kenny Buie and it was there that Mary worked for many years.

Like her father, Mary was deeply involved in village life. She ran the Girl Guides, she was the organist in the Church of Scotland for many years and she was the Sunday School superintendent.

She served on the village hall committee at the time of the first of its major renovations in the 1950s and gave much of her energy to fundraising for this; she is still a great supporter of the hall, knowing what a central role it has played (and still plays) in Ullapool life. But her community involvement didn’t stop there. At various times she was secretary of the local branch of the SWRI and of the Women’s Guild, treasurer of the local branch of the Highlands and Islands Film Guild, secretary of the badminton club, a member of Ullapool Gaelic choir and the Ullapool Choir, and part of the drama group. She also served on the board of Ullapool Museum Trust in the 1990s. And for many years she has fundraised for and supported the work of the Ross-shire Branch of the MS Society. As you can see she has a long record of voluntary service to her beloved Ullapool.

Mary is a great source of knowledge about Lochbroom. She is always the first port of call when information about its past is needed and she never fails to come up with the answer. I can vouch for her incredible memory. She told me the exact colour of the suit my mother was wearing when she was standing as a godmother sixty years ago in the Church of Scotland!

She’ll probably give me a row for devoting the whole column to her but I think acknowledgement of her extraordinary public service is long overdue. I join with her family and her many other friends in saluting her.

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