I FIRST met Betty in 1984. I had just been elected district councillor forAnderston, which includes Garnethill, and she was elected chairperson of the Garnethill Community Council.
Betty Brown was a courageous fighter for her beloved Garnethill. She worked tirelessly for her area of Glasgow, mainly through her time as a community councillor.
Betty worked as a cleaner with Scottish Television for 25 years before her retirement in 1990. During that period she built up a rapport with her fellow employees at every level.
Notably, one of her tasks was to clean the office of Bill Brown, the boss of STV. Each day, he recalled, he would ask her for her views on one thing or another and each day she would launch into what she thought. After a cup of tea she would leave Bill's office, the issues debated, but the office still not cleaned.
Betty was married to Robert and they had five children: Elizabeth, Carol, Jimmy, Kenny and Robert Jr. Her husband died in 1978 and Robert Jr died in 2001.
She loved her family and devoted as much time as possible to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and they, in turn, supported her in the various events and social activities she helped to organise. These ranged from a Keep Garnethill Tidy campaign to curry nights and children's and pensioners' Christmas parties.
Betty an ability to bring people together in the community council. She had a great sense of humour, which probably helped her through difficult periods of her life.
Councillor Malcolm Green and I ensured Betty had local authority financial support for the many projects she was involved in. Perhaps the most significant of these was the establishment of a multicultural centre in Garnethill, a result of the Garnethill Community Action Group, which she chaired, converting St Aloysius Church Hall with funding through the Urban Aid programme and Glasgow District Council.
Her next campaign was turning a vacant site into Garnethill Park, with funding from the Goethe Institute, Glasgow District Council, and Glasgow Development Agency.
The artist, Deiter Magnus, wanted local materials to be used for the construction of the park, so Betty organised groups of people to collect masonry and other materials from skips and demolished buildings in the area. Only Betty could have achieved this, and she did so by means of a mixture of pleading, cajoling and sheer enthusiasm.
Accolades for this remarkable woman came thick and fast, and the Soroptimists International (GlasgowWest) voted her "woman of the community 1994".
She was voted Scotswoman of the Year 1995 by The Evening Times, while the organisation Friends of the United Nations gave her an award for "creating common unity". Her proudest moment came when she was awarded the MBE by the Queen in 1998 in recognition of her work in the community.
It was said that the officials of Glasgow City Council dealt with any complaints from Betty immediately, out of fear of her. They helped to keep this myth going, but in reality they dealt with the problem because officials recognised and respected Betty's commitment to Garnethill. She had a passionate desire to have her area known as the village of Garnethill and her colleagues are agreed that they will continue working to achieve this.
Whatever the cause or the connection in which she was working, she gave the same unstinting dedicated vision and effort. She'll be missed by all her family and friends, but her work will continue and that is as she would have wanted it.
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