The funeral of climber John Meechan, who died in an accident in the Cuillin in Skye, will take place on what would have been his 81st birthday.
John of Glenrothes died while climbing on Coire a’ Bhasteir on July 26. His funeral will take place at Kirkcaldy crematorium on Friday August 18 at 2.15pm. There will be a collection for Skye Mountain Rescue Team.
He was an experienced winter and summer climber who had also tackled the highest peaks in the Alps.
Graham Wyllie, 34, who described himself as John’s climbing apprentice and has now become a mountain leader, credited him with giving him the skills to pursue his career.
“He was always positive and pragmatic with a great outlook on life. John was really competent and had great skills,” said Graham, who is now training to be a rock-climbing instructor.
John, husband of 62 years to Eleanor, was father to three sons, Brian, Ian and David.
He was born in Lochgelly in 1942 to coal miner John Vincent Meechan and his wife Sarah, who worked in the Post Office and he grew up with four sisters.
John was educated at St Patrick’s primary in Lochgelly then St Columba’s secondary in Cowdenbeath.
He had a spell as a baker’s assistant before joining the RAF aged 18. He did his basic training at RAF Bridgnorth and then served in Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Wiltshire and left in 1969 with an exemplary record after nine years’ service. He remained a reservist for a further three years.
In civilian life, John then began work as a data manager for Chrysler UK in Coventry.
As a teenager he had met his future wife, Eleanor, from Cardenden at a dance in Lochgelly. She too came from a mining family and the couple married in Kirkcaldy in December 1961.
They went on to have three sons; Brian who owns Fife Auto Centre; Ian a landscape gardener in Fife; David, communications manager for Southeastern Railway in London.
After leaving the RAF, the family moved to Bedworth in the Midlands, where Eleanor’s father and brother were working in mining following a downturn in the Scottish coal industry.
The family returned to Fife in 1974 and John eventually trained as a tree surgeon with Glenrothes Development Corporation.
David believes it was scaling high trees that sparked his father’s interest in mountain climbing.
Although John and his family had always enjoyed the Scottish countryside, it was not until the early 1990s that he began climbing seriously with the Eight Miles High Mountaineering Club of Fife.
He scaled Corbetts and Munros and went on many Alpine trips during which time he climbed 12 4,000-metre peaks including Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa and the Dom.
“He was not a Munro bagger,” said Graham. ” He was not into lists and was more interested in getting out and climbing with others.”
An adventurous traveller, John was climbing in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco just before the first Covid lockdown.
David said: “He was going to stay there for the duration but the government closed all the guest accommodation and was shutting down the airports. I had to get him on a last-minute BA flight to Heathrow before that happened.”
John worked on until his late 60s before spending his retirement climbing, travelling, sea kayaking, cycling and going to the gym.
He is survived by Eleanor, his three sons, two grandsons, three great-granddaughters and a great-grandson.
You can read the family’s announcement here
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