Tributes have been paid to a “kind, thoughtful and hard-working” former teacher who died when he was run down by a bin lorry in Inverness.
Charles Anthony Wallis, known as Tony, was the depute head teacher at Crown Primary School in the city before his retirement a year ago.
He was also an accomplished musician, playing guitar and saxophone. The horrific accident in Inverness city centre on Hogmanay led to the cancellation of the lunchtime Hogmanay entertainment for children.
A parent at the school spoke of Mr Wallis’s role in guiding her children’s lives and thanked him for his kindness and hard work.
The children at Crown Primary school were told of the sad death on Monday.
Mr Wallis, who would have turned 57 on Saturday, lived at Ardival Farm, Strathpeffer, with his wife Maggie. The incident happened at 7.35am on Wednesday and recalled the Glasgow bin lorry tragedy that claimed the lives of six pedestrians just before Christmas.Rona Tynan, a parent who knew Mr Wallis well, paid tribute to him online. She said: “Today in Inverness many of us shared very sad news on the New Year’s Eve accident of one of our community losing his life after an accident with a bin lorry.
“Most of us stopped to reflect but today on hearing the news on who exactly it was made many more of us stop and stand more still.
“Our family and many other families share our sympathies to his family but are together in our shock and sorrow on someone so colourful in our and our children’s lives. I can’t help asking myself sometimes why is life so hard and difficult? But I thank this kind, thoughtful and hard-working person for being good to me and my children and guiding us along for many years.”
In the same online conversation Sandra Campbell, wrote: “So sad to read that we have lost such a treasured member of the community.”
Another parent, Sandra Sutherland, said: “Mr Wallis was such a dedicated teacher and mentor to my kids at Crown. How very sad.”