For 26 years, newsagent Henry Smart, who has died aged 91, played a central role in the life of Turriff.
His shop, HD and F Smart at 25 High Street, was one of the main focal points of the community.
Together with his wife Flo, Henry ran the shop from 1967 until 1993.
At its height, the shop employed 13 paperboys and girls and sold around 1,000 copies of The Press and Journal each day.
Personal service
Henry knew every single customer by name. The men he always addressed as Sandy. He had a wider selection of women’s names: they were called either Sheila, Kathleen or Shirley, regardless of their real names.
Henry’s daughter Audrey Wilson said: “He had a great sense of humour and was always trying to make people laugh.
“He had a lot of phrases he used to come out with such as ‘see yi afore a fiver’ and ‘go home, yir mother wants yi’.
After he gave up the shop in 1993, Henry went on to serve as a president of Turriff Bowling Club where he worked as the greenkeeper.
He was born at Arnhead, his father’s farm at Auchterless, in April 1930, the middle child of 13; eight boys and five girls.
Career beginnings
When Henry left school he laboured on a number of farms and had a spell working as a postman.
It was at a dance at Auchterless Hall that Henry got together with his future wife, Flo.
The pair had had an earlier encounter as children at Sunday School but their friendship developed after the dance.
Henry and Flo married on Boxing Day in 1961 and then set up a chip shop in Macduff.
Moving on
In 1967 they swapped late nights for early mornings and bought the newsagent in Turriff.
Audrey said between her father’s shop and the butcher across the road, there was always a rich sources of local stories.
Henry and Flo worked six days a week but did not take Sunday newspapers which allowed them one day off.
However, with so many people relying on their service, it was difficult for them to take holidays.
So a year after they retired from the shop, they took their first real holiday, a bus tour and mini-cruise to Holland.
Growing family
That same year, the couple became grandparents with the birth of grandson, Daniel.
In 1996, Flo set foot on an aircraft for the first time and Henry for the second time, when they couple, together with friends, embarked on a trip taking in California, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore.
At the end of that year their first granddaughter, Amy, was born.
Sadly, Flo took ill and died in January 1999.
Third grandchild, Joseph, was born in 2000, followed by Georgia in 2004.
School crossing
Henry later gave up his greenkeeping post but took on a new role as a lollipop man where, once again, he was at the centre of the community.
He had an active social life which included trips to the bingo in Aberdeen.
In recent years, Henry had been resident at Balhousie care home in Huntly where he enjoyed playing dominoes and watching sport on television.
He was very proud of all his grandchildren and spent many hours with them in their childhood years.