THE far-flung north community, and those from many other parts, was immensely saddened by the death of Tom Mackay, of 236 Achnahuaigh, Melness, who slipped peacefully away, aged 70, on August 2, with all his family at his bedside.
Tom was a gentle, considerate, compassionate and caring "real Highland gentleman" who was extremely well-liked and admired by all who knew him, and a splendid ambassador for all the good qualities associated with the folks of North Sutherland.
He was born on December 15, 1940, the only child of Duncan and Barbara Mackay of Port Vasgo, Melness.
As Duncan was serving in the Second World War, Barbara returned to her home in Strathnaver where she and baby Tom were very well cared for in the bosom of her family.
On Duncan's demob, the family continued to live in Strathnaver - Duncan working as a shepherd on the Syre Estate.
When Tom was 11, he went to Dornoch Academy for his secondary education and to live in Earl's Cross Hostel where he made many friendships which were to endure for his lifetime.
Duncan and Barbara returned to Melness where Duncan took over the croft at Achnahuaigh and built the family home there. Barbara taught at the Melness School.
When Tom, who spoke only Gaelic until he entered primary school, enrolled at Dornoch Academy, his classmates had a wee identity problem: there was another Tom Mackay - from along the north coast in the hamlet of Armadale.
This Tom had the middle name Hay. So Melness' Tom was dubbed "Straw" - a moniker he carried proudly for the rest of his life and has subsequently passed down to his son and daughter.
Leaving Dornoch Academy, he was a ghillie at Loch Choire and at Syre Estate, before moving on to assist James McLeod run his farm in Strathnaver.
Subsequently he worked for a number of civil engineering contractors on road construction - including the new bridge over the Kyle of Tongue.
Latterly he was employed by the Forestry Commission, working all over the Highlands and Islands, until he retired in the late 1990s.
Once retired, there was plenty of work to do around the croft, but Tom and his wife, Angela, who also belonged to Melness, and had retired from her hairdressing business in Tongue, enterprisingly took on a daunting new challenge by embarking on an exciting venture - oyster farming in the Kyle of Tongue.
It was hard graft, but Tom and Angela were an industrious and forward-looking couple. The business prospered with fine oysters despatched to eager appreciative clients throughout the UK.
Tom did nearly all of the heavy work. However, he was not a man for whom the sweat on his brow of honest toil was any obstacle or burden.
Tom and Angela were the most devoted of couples - the classical local boy and local girl love story. They had known each other since carefree youngsters, living within half-a-mile of each other.
They were wed in 1968 and blessed with two of a family - Angie, now 42, and Shirley, 35.
As the parish minister, the Rev Stewart Goudie, said in a most memorable eulogy at the well-attended funeral service at Melness Church of Scotland on August 5: "Tom took great joy in his children, and he was very proud of them through school and into their adult lives. He was equally proud of his grandchildren, Shannon and Logan, and took the keenest interest in all they were getting up to.
"He was especially pleased with their interest in music as Tom was very musical himself. He played accordion and keyboard, and, if neither of those instruments were to hand, he would always whistle a tune.
"He had a fine singing voice and loved listening to Scottish music - especially Robbie Shepherd's programmes on BBC Radio Scotland. And he much enjoyed tapes of Highland Gaelic Psalm singing.
"His other great interest was reading. He would devour books on travel or history, and he also enjoyed all types of fiction. The family home is full of books waiting to be read - many of them inherited from the previous generation. He always requested a book if asked for his choice of a present.
"Although Tom liked reading about other parts of the world, he preferred to stay closer to home for his holidays. The family enjoyed holidays in various parts of Ireland, but more often on the West coast of Scotland. Oban was a particular favourite.
"He was an enthusiastic dancer and relished a good-going ceilidh. Perhaps that is why he and his friends founded the Tongue Ceilidh Band in the early 1970s. As well as Tom, there was John, Joseph, Richard, Johnnie, and Donnie. Tom continued with the band until he retired in the late 1990s."
There were times when returning late on from a dance in Tongue, Tom, Angela and friends would have an alfresco wee dance and ceilidh en route home as they wound round the Kyle before the days of the bridge. It was very much a heart-warming "Dancing in Kyle" scenario.
Bliss was it to be alive that dawn ...but to be young was very heaven.
It was in the late 1990s time that he first became unwell - with a mystery illness ultimately diagnosed as renal cancer. Despite the removal of a kidney, the cancer insidiously spread ...and he was given only six months to live. However, Tom was a fighter and he courageously and stoically battled the disease for another four-and-a-half years.
The Rev Goudie explained: "It is a tribute to his determined character, the love of his family, and the care he received from the medical and support services, that Tom continued to enjoy life", further enlightening the mourners by pointing out: "Only a week ago today he was sitting in his chair in the lounge enjoying the view over the Rabbit Islands."
Tom and Angela would have been married 43 years on August 8. Last December, there was a very convivial occasion, at the Ben Loyal Hotel to celebrate Tom's 70th birthday.
Latterly, he was unable to maintain his strong interest and involvement in Melness Church. But he frequently watched the Sunday service and Songs of Praise on television, and he liked tuning in to the Gaelic service on BBC Alba.
The Rev Goudie told the congregration: "Tom died peacefully and quietly - surrounded by his family. He never complained. Instead, he was thankful for all that God had given to him - most of all, for his devoted wife Angela.
"He was a man who made the most of life - working hard; enjoying music and friends; appreciating all he had been given."
"Tom was a gentle man. He made his point in a few quiet sentences and then that was the matter settled. He was a quiet, Highland believer, who kept his thoughts about God to himself."
The funeral service ended on the most poignant of notes - to the strains of that beautiful song, Loch Tay, Tom's favourite melody.
The interment was at Melness Cemetery and afterwards family and friends gathered at Ben Loyal Hotel, Tongue, to reminisce on a life well lived.
A collection was taken at the church service for the local health centre, and Marie Curie and Macmillan nurses.
Durness-born Willie Morrison, who was a classmate of Tom at Dornoch Academy, recalls: "Tom is the fifth of those who have passed on from eight newcomers to Earl's Cross Hostel in August 1953, the others being Alistair Macdonald, Altnaharra; George Gunn, Melness; Alaistair Mackay, Bettyhill; and Kenny Greig, Lairg.
"Only Alex Dingwall, Spinningdale, Murdo Maclean, from Stoer, and I remain, though for how long, who knows? Our attrition rate has been proportionally very high, even compared to earlier intakes."
