HELEN HAY, former headteacher of Pinkie St Peter's Primary School in Musselburgh, has died aged 85.
Well known for her dedication and love of music, Helen Hay taught at Pinkie St Peter's Primary School in Musselburgh for more than 20 years.
Born Helen Gilmour in Port Seton, she attended the local primary school, where she excelled, and then Pres
ton Lodge High School.
She went on to Edinburgh University but her studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War, when she went to work in Leven, Fife, as a project officer making wings for Hurricane fighter planes.
After the war she went to Moray House School of Education to pursue her dream of becoming a primary school teacher.
She taught in several Lothian primaries, including her former school in Port Seton.
While working there she met her former school friend Ian Hay by chance in a cafe. He was now a music teacher and was playing with his band in the town that night.
Her son John said: "He asked her along to the dance that night.
"She said 'If your band's any good I'll pay you for the ticket next week'. But she never did pay him for the ticket."
The couple married in 1948. They moved to Musselburgh in the 1950s and settled in the Mountjoy area.
Helen then began teaching at Pinkie St Peter's and worked her way up to become deputy head teacher, then head teacher in 1973. Her husband worked as principal music teacher at Preston Lodge.
John said: "I think she was proud of all her teachers, and she was very well respected.
"She was quite proud of being a woman in that position, as at that time it was fairly unusual.
"She used to teach all the children the recorder as she came from a very musical family and she wanted to pass it on.
"She was also very involved in the community."
After her retirement, Helen devoted more time to her other interests, including the Musselburgh Ladies' Speakers Club, and the Honest Toun Association.
She moved to a smaller flat in Musselburgh after her husband died in 1990.
Irene Williams, deputy head teacher at Pinkie St Peter's, said: "Helen was very well known. She was my head teacher when I first started, but she also became a good friend.
"She was a superb head teacher and all the staff thought a great deal of her. She cared very much about learning and children.
"She was very musical and loved the violin and piano, as well as the recorder." Helen leaves one son, and two grandchildren, Susan and Alan.
The full article contains 445 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
