Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: Maggi Young on July 17, 2010, 11:54:20 AM
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It is with the greatest regret that I have to tell you of the death on 16th July 2010 of a Forumist and very dear friend, Brian Wilson.
Brian died peacefully, after a long and very courageous battle with illness, on Friday night.
Brian and Maureen are highly valued SRGC members and in the Aberdeen Group were particularly popular.
Maureen has their sons Owen and Paul with her and has asked that there be no calls, letters or cards, please. Brian's funeral will be private.
Of course you may express your condolences here, where the "Boys" (both fine young men, of course, not boys!) can read them and , I hope, take some comfort from the affection and esteem in which their Father was held.
Dr S. Brian Wilson retired from his post in the Microbiolgy department at Aberdeen University a few years ago and tragically was not able to enjoy the long and active retirement that he and Maureen had hoped for. He faced his illness with determination and courage and for this alone is deserving of praise.
Brian and Maureen are well known as clever growers, especially of Gesneriads, where they have achieved some superb results, including fine hybrids andf their Aberdeen garden is a place of tranquil beauty, full of fine plants.
Brian and Maureen were never ones to expend all their energy on the decorative side of their garden: their fruit and vegetable garden was as productive as any I have known. I always thought they must be working on a different time clock to the rest of us.... 28 hour days, for sure.
Brian, though not at all well, was able to attend the Aberdeen Show in May and there was general delight from all his friends to see him there.
That show weekend, he delivered trays of the most fantastic, fat Shortia plants to be delivered by the Bainbridges to Kevock. If any nursery has ever had a consignment of better plants, I would be amazed. Tells you everything you need to know about Brian.
He was a wonderful person, full of kindness and often mischief, and we will miss him very much indeed.
Ian and I hope that Maureen, Owen and Paul and the rest of the Family can come to terms with this awful loss and take heart from the deep sympathy felt by all their friends.
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So very sad to hear of this loss to the SRGC, to the forum, to the Aberdeen Group and to the alpine world in general. Brian and Maureen's names are known to us all even if we haven't had the great pleasure of meeting and knowing them in person.
Our respects and sympathies to friends and family.
Sue and Cliff Booker
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I want to add my tribute to Brian who was a valued friend.
Brian was a great grower of many plants that were diffcult to cultivate and he applied his very scientific mind to this challenge and produced the most amazing results.
I will also always remember the many scientific discussions we had regarding plants, their evolution and cultivation.
And there were the times when we just had a laugh and a good time.
It is going to be difficult to think of the Aberdeen Group without Brian.
My thoughts are with Maureen, Owen, Paul and their families.
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Brian was a lovely helpful member of SRGS and he gave me lots of useful advice when I started to grow Shortias. I for one will miss him.
Jean Wyllie
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He was indeed a helpful and friendly member of the forum and will be missed. My sincerest condolences to his family and friends.
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Forgot to add that my thoughts are with Maureen and the boys.
Jean
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Brian and Maureen Wilson with the late Ron Smart in happier times at an Aberdeen Show
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What a sad loss of a Forum Member so obviously a wonderful person with so much knowledge, expertise and generosity of spirit and closely involved with the Aberdeen Group. I had noted that he and Maureen were going to be part of the SRGC Discussion WE and was very pleased to see that there was going to be a talk about Scottish Wild Flowers, a wonderful subject indeed.
My thoughts are with Maureen and her family at this difficult time and all those who knew Brian as a friend and colleague.
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I had only met Brian through the Forum and have benefited from his experience and wisdom. My sincere condolences to Maureen and the family.
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I was so sorry to hear the news about Brian. He was a lovely man and will be missed by all who knew him, not least by his fellow Scottish Rock Garden Club members. He was a well known and much respected personality in Scottish rock gardening circles - both here in Scotland and on the Forum.
My heartfelt sympathy goes to Maureen, Owen, Paul and their families.
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A delightful man whom I met through the forum and with whom I have exchanged plants in the past. My sincere condolences to Maureen and the family
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I am so very sorry to hear of Brian's death. Like many others here, I never met him and didn't know him but we had had a small email correspondence - about plants of course - and he had sent me seed. More recently I had the pleasure of being able to send a few cuttings of Asteranthera ovata to Brian and I know he had success in rooting them. I'm really sorry there was not time for them to flower for him. If Maureen and his sons get these messages, I hope they will know my thoughts go out to them, in their sad loss.
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I am so sorry to hear this news. I always enjoyed chatting to Brian whenever I met him at shows and on occasional visits to Aberdeen - he was a talented grower who gave freely of his experience and knowledge. I appreciated his scientific approach and I will particularly remember some of the gesneriad hybrids on the show bench - wow! Indeed, a great loss to the Aberdeen Group and to the Club as a whole. My thoughts and sympathies are with Maureen and family at this time.
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I am sad to hear of Brian's death. I very clever man, the first time I met Brian at the SRGC I was impressed about the depth knowledge Brian had and I wasn't sure that the club would be for me being a novice but Brian and Maureen and the rest of the club members have made me so welcome. I was invited to their garden and as Maggi said it was wonderful I had never seen such huge clumps of trilliums like they have in their garden, amazing.
Maureen it’s hard to put into words my thoughts, but I am thinking of you and your family. I am really sorry.
Angie
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Although eventually expected, this is still really sad news. Brian, and Maureen of course, are two really great people and formed a wonderful, knowledgeable team. Brian will be greatly missed by Carol and myself and our thoughts go out to Maureen and the rest of the family.
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very sorry to hear of Brian's death. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him in the SRGC and on the Forum. I'd been thinking of him and Maureen and their love of Scottish native plants last week as the Goodyera repens in the wood by my house is coming in to flower.
Thinking of Maureen and family at this sad time.
Roma