THEIR love blossomed to the melodic tones of Nat King Cole.
Last week couple Duncan and Ivie White died on the same day after 60 years of marriage.
The pair were laid to rest together at Dunblane Cathedral to the classics of their favourite crooner.
Mr White, 84, who had been diagnosed with cancer, died at home on April 27.
Just two hours later in hospital, his much-loved wife, 82, died unexpectedly, unaware that her husband had passed.
The memorial service, which acted as a celebration of the couple’s life, began with four Nat King Cole classics – “Unforgettable”, “Walkin’” “My Baby Back Home”, “Mona Lisa” and “Orange Coloured Sky”.
Their daughter Yvonne Allan, 59, who described her parents’ marriage as a “fairy tale romance” said: “My mum and dad were very much Nat King Cole fans and so picked songs that they really liked.
“We grew up knowing that they were Nat King Cole fans.
“It was what they played at home.”
Their romance began in post-war Scotland where Mr White was in the RAF as a radar operator and was admitted to Bridge of Earn Hospital in Perthshire with a serious back injury after an accident.
His wife-to-be was only 17 and studying orthopaedics at the hospital.
It was love at first sight for the couple, who eventually married in 1956 and raised a family in Dunblane. Perthshire.
Mrs White, originally from Newburgh, Fife, continued her work as a nurse and was an occupational nurse in a factory until she retired.
The couple, who leave five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, both enjoyed playing golf together and hillwalking.
Ms Allan who gave a speech at the memorial service said she wanted to emphasise how much her parents were very much of love.
“On March 10, they celebrated 60 years of marriage,” she said.
“They loved each other dearly. They told each other all the time that they loved each other.”
Mr White retired at 60 after years working as the Sheriff Clerk of Edinburgh, Lothian and the Borders. He was awarded an OBE by the Queen for his work.
Mr White often referred to his wife as “my darling Ivie”.
“She cared for him when he was in hospital, and it is almost like a full circle because when dad was diagnosed, she cared for him more or less for the seven weeks till he passed away.”
Mr White, who was for many years the Sheriff Clerk of Edinburgh, Lothians and the Borders before retiring at 60, revealed a wicked sense of humour, even in his final days.
While discussing the arrangements for the funeral which was held at Falkirk Crematorium, he requested that the exit music was Duke Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”.
The family were able to gauge how ill the lifelong Airdrie fan was by the way he was able to read his favourite daily newspaper, The Herald.
“My outstanding memory of my dad will be of him sitting on the chair at the window reading this paper, The Herald, from cover to cover.
“When he was ill, it became a measure of how his illness was going.
“He started off it was read from cover to cover then it would maybe be three-quarters, then it would maybe be a half, then a quarter, then in his last couple of days The Herald lay, not even opened.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here