A well-known face of Tain’s Tesco has passed away following a five-year battle with cancer.
Supermarket staff say their customer service desk “will never be the same” after Lorraine MacDonald died in the care of Highland Hospice on July 10.
The 57-year-old – who has been described as a “dogged but selfless” colleague – passed peacefully in the company of her young son, Kyle, 18, and 24-year-old daughter Michaela.
She worked at the store for 14 years.
Making many friends during her life, a “perfect” service was held for her last week under the sun at her home town of Balintore.
She was laid to rest in the village cemetery.
Speaking to The Press and Journal, Lorraine’s family have paid tribute – saying “a massive hole” has been left in their lives.
Her final wish was to see her son’s 18th birthday, but she sadly passed away 15 days before.
‘Lorraine didn’t let her illness define her’
Her brother Graham Ross grew up alongside her and said the family are in a state of “disbelief.”
The 59-year-old said: “It’s a shock for us, she has left a massive hole in our lives.
“She has two children, only 24 and 18, who have been left absolutely gutted.
“She took exceptional care of them, she was an amazing mother and she put them before anybody.
“For me and my sister Margaret, as well as both of her parents -Donnie and Margaret – her loss has left us in quite unimaginable pain.
“She was one of these people that was there for everyone. But she never took credit for anything that she did because she always thought of others before herself.
“She never let her illness define her.
“She was totally selfless and caring, quite outgoing and had many friends – everybody loved her.”
Lorraine loved her Tesco job
A career-focused individual, Lorraine held several jobs across the Highlands for a variety of different companies, including holding post at Plant and Fixings company in Inverness for 12 years.
She only took time off once in 2006 for four years following the birth of her son, before joining Tesco in 2010.
“She worked at the customer service desk for 14 years. She absolutely loved that job,” Graham continued.
“She gave every customer her time, she made sure every customer got exactly what they wanted.
“But she also didn’t stand for any nonsense – if she got a customer that was out of order she would stand her ground. She was quite dogged.
“Because she was local to the town of Tain, she was very well known. A lot of customers have not only been shocked by her passing, they’ve also been saddened.
“Some have even said that the customer service desk will never be the same without her.”
Lorraine was diagnosed with cancer in 2019, beating the disease initially. But it came back meaning she had to take a step back from work for the last year of her life.
She was also an avid Race for Life participant, and passionate about raising money for cancer research – never missing one race since 2019.
“The nature of her illness meant that she couldn’t be at her job for the last year of her life, but her closest colleagues would be asking after her and visit her at home,” said her brother.
“There was always many people asking after her and her health.
“Even when she was battling the illness, she never thought it would beat her and carried a positive attitude.”
Tesco pays tribute to superstar colleague
Chelsea Munro, who is the store manager at the Tain Tesco, said the workforce has felt the weight of Lorraine’s departure.
“Lorraine was a valued colleague, and I was very proud to have worked here since the store opened in 2010,” she said.
“Lorraine was a friendly face working on our customer service desk, always willing to go above and beyond to ensure her customers left happy.
“Her loss has been felt in store, not just as a colleague but as a dear friend to so many. She is dearly missed by the whole team in store.
“We hope to raise money for the Highland Hospice throughout the course of the year, in Lorraine’s memory as a thank you for all their amazing support to Lorraine and her family.”
‘We hope Lorraine is at peace’
However devastated her brother may be, he is glad she can finally be at peace.
Her final wish was to celebrate her son’s 18th birthday on July 25.
Sadly, she passed away 15 days before.
“But, we had a little day for her in the hospice because we knew she wasn’t going to make it to the real birthday,” Graham said.
“She wanted to organise that herself. It was a very emotional day when we had that little get together.
“I think it was a great relief for her because she had so much treatment over the five years, in the end she wanted it all to be over. She wanted to be free with no more suffering.”
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