Reid Flory was the last provost of Huntly. Elected in 1973, his Aberdeenshire post disappeared when the local government reorganisation of 1975 swept Scotland's counties and burghs into oblivion.
Under his guidance, Huntly swimming pool was planned, financed, and built, no small achievement for a town with a population of fewer than 10,000. As senior baillie, he was a magistrate, known for his ability to dispense justice with common sense. Born in Ellon, he served his adopted home for 30 years as both town councillor and a community councillor.
A pharmacist by profession, he ran one of the burgh's three chemists' shops and also built up a thriving business as sup-plier for veterinary medicines.
He inherited from his electrical engineer father Walter a love for technology. His grip of computing extended to writing programmes and simple games.
His lifelong interest in model railways extended to more than models and his membership of rail clubs included the Great North of Scotland Railway Association, Keith & Dufftown Railway Association, and the Scale 4 Society. This last catered for the pursuit of dimensional accuracy. With little or no Scale 4 material commercially available, Reid produced almost all of his rolling stock and lineside fixtures by hand from basic materials.
Flory was a born survivor, evacuated from the French coast in 1940 after being one of the last of a detachment of the 51st Highland Division detailed to fight rearguard action at Dunkirk. While serving later in Burma, he met his wife, Sybil (nee Le Fleur), and married her in India in 1943.
He was predeceased by his son, Ian, in 1994, and is survived by his wife, Sybil, children Derek, Flora, and Evelyn, 12 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Reid Flory MPS; born
September 4,1920,
died January 4, 2003.
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