Obituary: Mary McKay, golf club captain, sailor and bridge player

MARY McKay, who was an accomplished golfer, sailor and bridge player, has died at Argyll Lodge in Helensburgh, aged 91.

Mrs McKay was born at Chislehurst in Kent and worked in insurance with Lloyds in the City of London and as a Red Cross nurse during the Second World War before marrying solicitor Wynne Davies in 1949.

He died in 1955, leaving his wife to bring up Ruth, their only child, on her own and with a large house and garden to look after.

She had been an excellent golfer since childhood, and, in 1960, she and her daughter moved to Old Coulsdon in Surrey where her brother Jimmy and his wife Maureen helped her to look after Ruth, giving her more time to play golf at Purley Downs Golf Club. She was elected Lady Captain there, and these were happy years during which Mary made many lifelong friendships in the world of golf and bridge.

In 1970, an old friend, Jimmy McKay, re-appeared in her life. He had been married to Mary’s best friend Pauline McKay, who was tragically killed some years before in a climbing accident on the Cobbler at Arrochar, Argyll.

Their friendship flourished, and after several visits and many more letters Jimmy persuaded Mary to marry him and move to Scotland.

Her son-in-law, company director Rodger Scullion, told the large congregation at her Requiem Mass in St Joseph’s RC Church, Helensburgh: “This was a big step indeed for someone who regarded anywhere north of Watford as ‘the North’.”

Mary and Ruth, who was later to graduate in law and become a reporter to the Children’s Panel in Dunbartonshire and Glasgow, moved in 1971 to live with Jimmy at his home overlooking the River Clyde at Ardoch, near Cardross.

Mr Scullion added: “Once she had mastered the language (she had some initial difficulties with the Scottish accents) and come to terms with the weather, Mary took up golf and joined various bridge clubs.”

She was elected as Lady Captain of Cardross Golf Club in 1980 and also took up sailing at the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club at Rhu on the Gareloch, joining her husband for weekend jaunts and challenging holidays off the west coast.

Jimmy McKay was an intrepid sailor, even after losing both his legs in an accident, and inclined to sail in all weathers. His wife joined him even in the most terrible conditions.

The couple had a long and happy marriage up to the time of Jimmy’s death 12 years ago. They had a wide circle of friends from the world of sailing, golfing, bridge and the Helensburgh Conservative Association – of which Mary, a great admirer of Margaret Thatcher, was an enthusiastic member – and they entertained them often at Ardoch.

Mrs McKay, a much-loved mother and grandmother, eventually moved to Queen Street in Helensburgh, where she was an active member of her many clubs until she took up residence at Argyll Lodge three years ago.

She died there in December and her funeral took place in St Joseph’s Church and Cardross Crematorium. BILL HEANEY