Christine

The Funeral Service celebrating the life of Christine McCulloch was held on Monday 27th November 2017 in Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Millport. The Service was conducted by Mr Alastair Chisolm , Lay Chaplain, Cathedral of the Isles , Millport.

After leading the large congregation in the 23rd Psalm Alastair delivered the Euology as follows:-

"Christine was born at Figgatoch Farm on the 8th of March 1936, second child of Sandy and Jenny McIntyre who had leased the farm shortly after their marriage. Willie , Christine's elder brother was born there in 1933 and the family was completed with the arrival of Sandy in 1938. All three attended Cumbrae School and cycled to and from daily . They were however allowed to leave school 15 minutes early on midwinter evenings ! Farming activities remained central to Christine's way of life - but it wasn't all work ! She joined the Brownies and then graduated to the Girl Guides and the Sea Rangers.These were activities she loved and where she made lifelong friends. Always keen on sports Christine took up golf , tennis, badminton, football and curling (probably her favourite !).In 1991 Christine was elected President of Millport Curling Club and was later awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership in recognition of all her practical assistance to the Club. As time went on Christine became involved in many Island activities - The Parish Church, the Rural, the Garden Club.

Christine and Conway McCulloch finally tied the knot in October 1974 after a long friendship. Conway often worked overseas and Christine would join him when he was on leave and holiday to exotic places. Christine's horizons were much broadened by life with Conway.

She worked hard to improve many Island facilities, finding funding for the rebuilding of the changing rooms and toilets in the West Bay Park. Another intensely practical project of recent years was the growing- on of plug plants on a huge scale in her own garden for the subsequent planting out in the hanging baskets along the promenade.Together with David Stevenson she ensured that Millport had a splendid summer display for a number of years. She was a long standing member of Cumbrae Community Council and a Director of Cumbrae Community Development Company. I suspect that I could list , many more of Christine's public spirited activities, and yet I would be sure to have omitted something !

Yet Christine was not an easy lady. It was not always possible to "read" her mood, or to guess which part of your activities had displeased her. She certainly did not tolerate fools gladly, and sometimes newcomers were disconcerted by her gruff manner . I well remember an occasion when she and several others were given permission to position bee hives in various parts of the Cathedral grounds. Unfortunately wasps attacked the bees and killed them, so the project failed. Some time later I met Christine and was left with the impression that it was all my fault ! Apparently I should personally have removed the wasps . I didn't quite see that this was part of my responsibility as Organist ! So, when she came to the College a few weeks later to give a talk on "The Wild Flowers of Cumbrae" I was a little apprehensive. But I needn't have worried. Her talk ,illustrated with coloured slides, was superb, and her enthusiasm for wild orchids was infectious, while her local knowledge was of course encyclopaedic.

How to sum up Christine ? A complex figure, certainly. Not easy, but someone who would support to the hilt any ideas which she felt would benefit our island. And the good of Cumbrae mattered to Christine. Of course at the centre of her life was her family . She was inordinately proud of her nieces and nephews - Kim, Sandra, Alister, Dorothy, and Sandy and her great nieces and nephews - Liam, Sean, John, and Anna. She also kept in touch with cousins in various part of the world and was delighted to see relatives from New Zealand who visited Millport recently.

Unfortunately ,Christine became ill again earlier this year, and although she battled bravely she was ,finally,unable to beat the cancer that attacked her .She passed away in the Lady Margaret Hospital last weekend .

Whilst recognising the sadness of this occasion,it is important to acknowledge all that she achieved and all that she was, and so in the words of the old Hymn :-

Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices

Who wondrous things hath done in whom His world rejoices -

Whom from our mother's arm hath blessed on our way

With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today. "