A Tribute to Sandy by Charles McMillan.
Clearly, it is impossible to describe Sandy the man and his life in a few minutes. But while thinking about what to say, the word family kept recurring and how Sandy was influenced and moulded by his family – past and present.
Sandy had a deep and ongoing interest in his ancestral family and, even shortly before he died, he was writing about his great grandfather Walter amongst others.
In 1995, Sandy and I undertook an ancestor hunt in Scotland. This was not just a bonding exercise between two brothers but resulted in him feeling a greater sense of belonging in the overall scheme of things and identifying his place in the family tree.
He was quite excited to explore a 15th Century castle on the west coast of Scotland that had a McMillan tower named after its keeper and in a nearby medieval chapel, I took a photograph of him standing proudly beside a 12 foot high engraved celtic cross, called the Alexander MacMillan Cross, surrounded by effigies of knights in armour. He was also greatly amused to discover that a more recent and traceable ancestor, a Riach this time, worked for the Glen Rothes distillery. You will be able to sample some of that famous malt whisky later this afternoon.
Sandy was born and raised in Lowland Scotland. His parents were loving and caring but quite strict. His father was an engineer and his mother a teacher. In his childhood home, there was no TV, no computer and no mobile phones; but there were lots of books and plenty of family discussions on a large variety of topics. He had regular contact with a large extended family and he adored his maternal grandfather who was a headmaster and probably influenced his early ideas about life.
At school, his English teacher nurtured in him an enquiring mind and, what was to become a life-long passion for literature and the English language. He was known as the ‘Prof’ and his English exam marks on leaving school were the highest in Scotland. We can now recognise the beginnings of Sandy’s considerable intellect and love of family.
In 1959, a rather dashing RAF officer with a checked cloth cap and an open sports car whose bonnet was held down by a leather strap met and married a talented young artist, and Jan became the most significant and influential person in his life. Like all marriages there were ups and downs, but it is testimony to the love and understanding between them that their marriage lasted more than 53 years, a significant achievement
in this day and age.
And along came Leila, Toby, Giles and then their children and Sandy’s own personal family was created,
which filled his life with love and great joy and happiness. Right at the end he was determined to see and hold Giles and Khalki’s new baby daughter, Violet, and succeeded in doing so, which must have given him considerable pleasure.
There is yet another family in Sandy’s story, and that is his beloved Postlip. He is almost part of the fabric of the building and now is certainly part of the grounds. This beautiful place and the people in it played a major role in his life and that of his family and so on their behalf I would like to thank all Postlippers past and present for sharing their lives with Sandy and for comforting and supporting his family at this difficult time.
I have tried to show how the concept of family – ancestral, parental marital and Postlippian played a key role in Sandy’s life and I hope that this adds to our understanding of the man we loved and admired.
The time has now come to amend the family tree. At the entry ‘Alexander Sandy McMillan, born 29 October 1932, married 19 December 1959’ add ‘died 28 September 2013’ - but always alive in our memories.
Sandy had a deep and ongoing interest in his ancestral family and, even shortly before he died, he was writing about his great grandfather Walter amongst others.
In 1995, Sandy and I undertook an ancestor hunt in Scotland. This was not just a bonding exercise between two brothers but resulted in him feeling a greater sense of belonging in the overall scheme of things and identifying his place in the family tree.
He was quite excited to explore a 15th Century castle on the west coast of Scotland that had a McMillan tower named after its keeper and in a nearby medieval chapel, I took a photograph of him standing proudly beside a 12 foot high engraved celtic cross, called the Alexander MacMillan Cross, surrounded by effigies of knights in armour. He was also greatly amused to discover that a more recent and traceable ancestor, a Riach this time, worked for the Glen Rothes distillery. You will be able to sample some of that famous malt whisky later this afternoon.
Sandy was born and raised in Lowland Scotland. His parents were loving and caring but quite strict. His father was an engineer and his mother a teacher. In his childhood home, there was no TV, no computer and no mobile phones; but there were lots of books and plenty of family discussions on a large variety of topics. He had regular contact with a large extended family and he adored his maternal grandfather who was a headmaster and probably influenced his early ideas about life.
At school, his English teacher nurtured in him an enquiring mind and, what was to become a life-long passion for literature and the English language. He was known as the ‘Prof’ and his English exam marks on leaving school were the highest in Scotland. We can now recognise the beginnings of Sandy’s considerable intellect and love of family.
In 1959, a rather dashing RAF officer with a checked cloth cap and an open sports car whose bonnet was held down by a leather strap met and married a talented young artist, and Jan became the most significant and influential person in his life. Like all marriages there were ups and downs, but it is testimony to the love and understanding between them that their marriage lasted more than 53 years, a significant achievement
in this day and age.
And along came Leila, Toby, Giles and then their children and Sandy’s own personal family was created,
which filled his life with love and great joy and happiness. Right at the end he was determined to see and hold Giles and Khalki’s new baby daughter, Violet, and succeeded in doing so, which must have given him considerable pleasure.
There is yet another family in Sandy’s story, and that is his beloved Postlip. He is almost part of the fabric of the building and now is certainly part of the grounds. This beautiful place and the people in it played a major role in his life and that of his family and so on their behalf I would like to thank all Postlippers past and present for sharing their lives with Sandy and for comforting and supporting his family at this difficult time.
I have tried to show how the concept of family – ancestral, parental marital and Postlippian played a key role in Sandy’s life and I hope that this adds to our understanding of the man we loved and admired.
The time has now come to amend the family tree. At the entry ‘Alexander Sandy McMillan, born 29 October 1932, married 19 December 1959’ add ‘died 28 September 2013’ - but always alive in our memories.