Special needs teacher; Born June 3, 1928; Died December 20, 2007. MARY Agnes Smith, who has died aged 79, was an inspirational figure in the field of special needs education in Glasgow and was once nominated by Evening Times readers as Scotswoman of the Year for her work with children.

Special needs teacher;
Born June 3, 1928;
Died December 20, 2007.

MARY Agnes Smith, who has died aged 79, was an inspirational figure in the field of special needs education in Glasgow and was once nominated by Evening Times readers as Scotswoman of the Year for her work with children.

She was born in Springburn and educated in Girvan in the Convent School of the Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny, whom she later joined. After a novitiate in Ireland and teacher training in Notre Dame in Glasgow she held teaching posts in the order's schools in Girvan and in Stafford.

In 1962 she was appointed head teacher of the newly-opened private primary school, Regina Mundi, in Mitre Road in Broomhill, Glasgow. The Archdiocese of Glasgow, in opening a church in Balshagray Avenue to cater for the emerging Catholic middle-class, had also identified a possible demand for private education. Sr Mary Agnes took up a pioneering position by including among her pupils several children who were classed as physically or mentally handicapped, something which the parents had not anticipated. In the face of some opposition, but with some success, she pushed for such children to be integrated into private secondaries.

In the years following the Second Vatican Council she committed herself to the changes that were taking place in the Catholic Church and was an enthusiastic member of the Girl Guides movement, wearing a distinctive beret instead of her veil at a time when this was widely frowned upon. She also gave up her own accommodation in the school and let it be used for an early form of respite care.

Eventually, she moved beyond the teaching provisions of Cluny to dedicate herself full-time to work with special-needs youngsters, first of all as a volunteer with St Gregory's Club in Maryhill. With the parish priest, Mgr Des Maguire and Sr Gertrude of the Franciscans, she was involved in the setting up of Mitre House, which Glasgow City Council made available in Pollok as an experiment in providing respite care for youngsters with severe learning difficulties. This proved to be the seed for the Archdiocese to provide a range of social services which are now managed by the Mungo Foundation.

She took charge of Daniel House for the profoundly disabled in Pollokshields and was involved in setting up Providence House in Great Western Road, which had 12 residents and three more in satellite housing. Here, she found her true vocation, extending her employment into voluntary work, always helping the most challenging of the youngsters. She would take them out, socialise with them, have fun and still be able to make her teaching ability available to them.

Significantly, she chose to retire first to Quarrier's Village, where she felt privileged to be part of the inheritance of the great William Quarrier. Here, she was able to continue her interest in Paisley Abbey choir and in constituency work with Renfrewshire Conservative Party. Latterly, she moved to Dundonald to be nearer the family home and her brother Andrew, who survives her, as does brother Tom in Australia.