Aberdeenshire ice-cream businessman Maitland Mackie has died at the age of 76.
His family yesterday described him as a “remarkable man” and someone who had “a great appetite for life and people”.
As the chairman of Mackie’s of Scotland, he transformed his grandfather’s farm into a thriving ice-cream business with an annual turnover in excess of £10million.
Mr Mackie was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour just two weeks after the death of his beloved wife Halldis, in February.
He died peacefully at his home on the family farm, at Westertown, Rothienorman, on Saturday afternoon.
The couple’s eldest daughter Karin Hayhow, 49, said the family were “terribly sad”.
She added: “There was so much that he had planned and would have enjoyed in the next ten years.
“He was a man with incredible mental and physical energy – and a great appetite for life and people.
“He had a direct and engaging character, and his combination of imagination with intelligence fed his ability to direct his business with a willingness to meet change and take risks.
“He was handsome and a many sided business and family man – a great husband, dad, grandfather, brother and uncle.”
Her younger sister Kirstin McNutt, 45, recalled a teenage holiday to Norway which resulted in the sailing dinghy mast breaking.
Mr Mackie immediately flew out to help fix the mast and ended up staying with the girls for the rest of the holiday.
Mrs Hayhow said her father was “a boy scout to the end” and was never without his leatherman pocket tool, except when it was removed by airport security staff.
“One of his final objectives was to be the best ever grandfather and his nine grandchildren say that he was their best friend – so he has succeeded in that nine times over,” she added.
Yesterday, tributes were also paid to Mr Mackie by lifelong friends, colleagues, members of the farming community and politicians.
First Minister Alex Salmond said: “Maitland brought wit, colour and energy to everything he did.
“His highly successful company made him one of the best known business figures in the north-east and beyond but his interests extended further than that.
“He was one of the first to recognise the real significance both for the economy and local communities of Scotland’s wind power potential.
“And, of course, he was a formidable campaigner politically and on local issues where I had the pleasure of working with him.
“Our thoughts and condolences are with Maitland’s family now. He will be much missed.”
Rural Affairs Minister Richard Lochhead MSP said Mr Mackie’s passion and enthusiasm for the farming industry was his hallmark.
“Maitland was very much the driving force in making Mackie’s such a household name and such a successful Scottish company deeply rooted in the north east of Scotland,” he said.
“I often had the pleasure of jousting with him at political and farming events and one of the many things about Maitland I admired was how we all departed such occasions on the very best of terms.”