Douglas and Katrina Crawford mark 50 years of marriage with donation to Strathcarron Hospice

Douglas and Katrina Crawford were delighted to be able to hand over £1550 this week to the Fankerton hospice after their family and friends made donations rather than give them gifts to mark their 50 years of marriage.

The couple met in the Leapark Hotel in Grangemouth in 1971 and were quickly a love match, eventually marrying on July 14, 1973 in Grangemouth Old Parish Church, followed by a reception at the Inchyra Hotel. And 50 years later they returned to the same venue for their golden celebrations where they were joined by almost 100 guests.

Douglas, 71, grew up in Bantaskine, the youngest child of Peter and Jessie Crawford, alongside brother Graeme and sister Janet. He attended Comely Park Primary and then Falkirk High School.

On January 3, 1967 he started work as an apprentice compositor with The Falkirk Herald and he was to remain with the company for the next 56 years, only retiring earlier this year from his role as an IT team leader for Scotland.

Katrina, 70, was the younger daughter of Jim and Cath Muir, growing up in Almond Street, Grangemouth with big sister Eileen. She attended Sacred Heart Primary then St Mungo’s High School. Her first job was in the offices at the town’s ICI chemical works.

Following their marriage the couple set up home in the flat above the then Grangemouth Advertiser office in Union Road where they stayed until the arrival of daughter Lynsey. Then they moved to Craigmillar Place in Stenhousemuir where son Graeme was born, before settling in nearby Kingsley Avenue, where they have lived for the last 40 years.

After her children were born Katrina began a career with the NHS, firstly as a telephonist in Bellsdyke hospital and eventually spent 28 years at the RSNH were she was an admin team leader.

Although Douglas had his long association with The Falkirk Herald, over the years he held a number of part-time jobs too, including as a wine waiter in the Inchyra Hotel, running an ice cream van, working in a petrol station and 14 years behind the bar in the Warriors Club.

The couple have many interests, not least Douglas’s love of cars, but they enjoy their many holidays abroad, often with daughter Lynsey, her husband Alex and their children, Kathryn and Sean, as well as son Graeme, daughter-in-law Corinna and their children Reiss and Cole.

With a job that often took him all round Scotland, and the time devoted to their family, Douglas and Katrina say their time together was always precious.

Douglas said: “We like to get the opportunity to sit down and talk. We discuss everything under the sun but it’s always good to spend that time together.

"We’d like to thank everyone who has been so generous and allowed us to make this magnificent donation to Strathcarron Hospice.”