Engineer and Gaelic singer; Born April 22, 1948; Died July 8, 2006.
IT IS no exaggeration to say that many thousands of people were shattered to hear or read of the sudden death of Willie John MacAulay, at the age of 58 in Carnoustie.
A native of Harris, he excelled in several fields, most prominently in engineering, entertainment and community service in Tayside. All while remaining quiet and unassuming, friendly and ready to help anyone.
His mother, tragically, died in childbirth, leaving a widower with a largish family. Her mother's sister, Dolina, brother, William, and her mother, Mairi Ailein, undertook the rearing of Willie John. He did well in the Sir Edward Scott junior secondary school in Tarbert and studied engineering in Inverness. He secured an apprenticeship in Dundee and served his five years with distinction.
He worked for NCR, then Timex and was there until the firm moved from Dundee. A rumour that he had a nice voice for Gaelic song preceded him to Dundee, but, in his unassuming way, he, at first, resisted attempts by Dundee Highland Society to persuade him to sing at their ceilidhs. When he relented, a musical talent was discovered. He came to the notice of the legendary John A MacRae, a Glasgow-based Lewisman who was a Mod gold medallist, former Orpheus chorister and a Glasgow headmaster. He took on Willie John as a pupil and, every Friday, Willie John drove the 93 miles to John's house. Willie John's diligence and application brought him a gold medal at the Royal National Mod in 1975.
He rmade a record, but, disappointed with its financial return, he set up a company, producing no fewer than seven albums. He was in demand all over the country and overseas. A three-week tour of Australia was so successful that he was invited back twice more and performed at the Sydney Opera House to an audience of 25,000.
He showed shrewd business acumen in buying an old ambulance and using his engineering skills to convert it into a camper van to carry his equipment and accompanying artistes on tours of the Highlands and islands. This business acumen was again demonstrated on his second visit to Australia. By this time, he was working for Gore-Tex. The firm's fabric had been adopted in place of leather in the air bags for bagpipes. He took samples with him and opened up a huge new market for his employers.
When a former colleague from NCR invited him to join a management buy-out of an engineering division of NCR, he was appointed sales director of the new company, Texol Technical Solutions Ltd. He retired a few years ago, but retained his interest as a consultant.
In his adopted home town of Carnoustie, his involvement in so many organisations has made him a legend. He was a member of Probus and Rotary clubs, Community Lifeline and the crime prevention panel and on the committees of Zone, an initiative for young people, and of the community council. He was also an ardent Scottish Nationalist.
Willie John was married for 30 years to Catherine and is survived by his wife, two sons, Ian and Stuart, and daughter, Fiona.
The Carnoustie church ws packed at the funeral service prior to the long journey to Harris, where he was interred in the cemetery beside the Luskentyre beach he loved and sang about in one of his best-known songs, a tape-recording of which ended the funeral service.
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