Solicitor and naval officer
Born: April 21st 1921
Died: July 16th 2017
GORDON Wilson Izatt, who has died aged 96 was a well known Perth Solicitor and former sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy
He was born on the 21st April 1921 in Alexandria, Dunbartonshire to Alexander and Elizabeth Izatt and educated at Glasgow High School and Glasgow University where he obtained a BL in 1941.
He was a Sub Lieutenant in the Royal Navy (Fleet Air Arm) in World War II (1941-1945) and served in the Home, Eastern and Mediterranean Fleets including the Salerno Landings.
In October 1945, he married Kathleen Edith James, whom he had met at Culcheth during the war and, after working as a solicitor in Glasgow and Ayrshire, they moved to Perth where he joined the firm of Condie Mackenzie & Company WS Perth (now Blackadders), with a strong interest in Sheriff Court work.
He became senior partner in ‘Condies’ and retired in 1987. During his working life, he was President of the Society of Procurators & Solicitors in the City and County of Perth from 1983-1985. He was a trustee of numerous family trusts and a company director.
He and Kay had three daughters, Lesley, Elizabeth and Fiona. He was an Elder of St Leonard’s in the Fields Church & Clerk to the Session Court (though he didn’t wear his religion on his sleeve) and also played an active role in his fifties, in the life of the town of Perth, helping with several charities, and using his professional skills for the benefit of others.
Five years after the untimely death of his wife Kay, he married Mary Drummond Sempill Geddie, a solicitor colleague in the firm.
After his retirement, they moved to Chapel Green House, Earlsferry in Fife where he lived until 2016, outliving Mary by ten years.
Gordon and Mary became inveterate travellers including a visit to China in the 1980s, to the USA and Middle East, South Africa and Australia Gordon had a wonderfully analytical turn of phrase, a mischievous twinkle and was master of the gentle tease. He was also a keen pianist and collector of Scottish Art.
His recreation centred mainly around golf, and he was a member of several golf clubs, including the Royal Perth, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and Pine Valley Golf Club.
A family man, he had eleven grandchildren of whom he was extremely proud, and at the time of his death, he had 16 great grandchildren.
He died on the 16th July 2017 in Acacia Lodge Care Home, Henley on Thames, where he had been living since February 2016.
Lesley Stein
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