A Nairn man who dedicated his life to the community has died at the age of 70.
Tom Heggie served the town as as a local minister, teacher and councillor.
A well-known figure around the town, Mr Heggie was coming to the end of his first term on the local authority and was planning to retire at the elections in May.
Having served at two of Nairn’s kirks as a Church of Scotland minister, he continued to officiate weddings and funerals until just a few weeks ago.
His death was described by his colleague Laurie Fraser as a “real tragedy for this whole community”.
Mr Fraser said he first met Mr Heggie as a young minister at Nairn Old Parish Church around 40 years ago, adding: “He was filling the parish church with the community.
“He went in on Sunday morning, there were kids climbing over the pews and by the end of the service they’d be climbing over the pulpit as well, he was that well liked.”
Mr Heggie later went from preacher to teacher, moving first to Glasgow and then to Forres Academy.
After first returning to the ministry for a period at the Highland town’s United Reformed Church on Crescent Road, he taught mathematics at Nairn Academy for around ten years.
Four years ago, he left teaching to run for the Highland Council, and took his place representing Nairn and Cawdor after winning “one of the highest individual votes ever known for an independent councillor”, Mr Fraser said.
He soon became the chairman of the local authority’s Nairnshire committee, and the vice-chairman of its education committee.
Mr Fraser added: “He spent a considerable amount of time pushing for both a bypass for Nairn town and a Nairn Academy.
“Both have reached the stages where they were just waiting for final sign-off by Scottish ministers.”
A council funding bid for a new Nairn Academy to replace the current asbestos-ridden building was confirmed as successful by the Scottish Government in December 2020, while ministers gave the go-ahead for completing of the statutory procedures for the bypass in February last year.
Highland Council convener Bill Lobban described Mr Heggie as a “tireless advocate for Nairn”.
He said: “I was personally very saddened to hear of the death of my friend and colleague Tom Heggie.
“Tom was the very epitome of a local councillor. A man who genuinely cared passionately about his local community and all the people within it.
“Tom will be sorely missed by his family and friends, but also by his colleagues in the Highland Council who held him in such high regard and the wider community for whom he did so much.”
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated Mr Heggie’s age as 65.