OBITUARY: Christina Mackenzie, Brora
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Brora has lost another stalwart community member with the passing of Christina (Chrissie) Mackenzie, Dudgeon Drive.
Chrissie was born in 1926 in a house long since gone at Salt Street, Brora. Her father Henry Matheson was a veteran of the Great War, who worked as a stonemason on the Clyne War Memorial in Brora, and was still serving in the Territorials at the time of his death in 1937.
The Northern Times of the day recorded that his “semi-military” funeral cortege was one of the largest seen in the village for some time.
Chrissie was educated at Brora and after war work and working as a hotel receptionist, in 1948 she married a young Chindit veteran, George Mackenzie.
George and Chrissie had first met as young children before the war, at a croft in the hills above Edderton.
Once married the couple set up home in Edderton while George was working for the Forestry Commission. Their daughter Sandra was born in 1949.
In 1955 George re-joined the Army and was initially stationed as an instructor for the Seaforth Territorials in Munlochy.
In December 1957 he was posted to the 1st Seaforths in Munster, Germany and his family followed shortly after.
Many more postings followed with the Seaforths and then the Queen’s Own Highlanders, from Singapore to Stornoway and from Osnabruck to Elgin, where George completed his military career as a long service recruiter.
Chrissie always played an active part in any community in which she found herself, in the regiment and beyond.
Having as a young woman founded a Girl Guide company in Edderton, she went on to volunteer for the Guide movement wherever the family found itself and there was a need, often serving as Brown Owl for the local Brownie pack in barracks.
In 1990 the Mackenzies bought a house in Brora, following Chrissie’s brother Gordon Matheson who had already returned after a career in the RAF.
For Chrissie it was a return to home and the friends of her childhood. Both she and her husband became actively involved in so many community groups and activities, the most important being Clyne Church where George later became session clerk.
Chrissie continued her long membership of the Women’s Guild and was active for 25 years in the Clyne Church Guild and Women’s Fellowship. She loved music, especially song in Church, and was an enthusiastic member of Syd’s singing group.
After George passed away in 2011. Chrissie carried on contributing as much as she could to the community which she loved.
Latterly she became virtually housebound but still engaged with her many friends, neighbours and caring professionals and others who made it possible for her to continue living independently.
It is fitting that having contributed so much herself to the many communities which she had belonged to, in the end it was the community which made it possible for her to live out her life as she wished.
Chrissie died on April 10 after a short hospital stay, visibly sustained by her own stoicism and deep Christian faith.
Given her love of the Church and music it seems so ironic that the funeral arrangements were private due to current restrictions, but she had a practical approach to life and would have surely understood.
Chrissie was utterly devoted to her own small family, and was a caring and generous aunt to her Matheson and Sutherland nephews and nieces.
She supported many charitable causes, many of them being in connection with children or with forces veterans, such as sponsoring the education of Naga children through the Kohima Educational Trust.
Chrissie is survived by her daughter Sandra and son-in-law Douglas in Inverness, and by Robert and Pamela and great-granddaughter Lily in Edinburgh.
