The loved ones of Aberdeen community stalwart Angela Joss have opened up about how she overcame her personal battles before devoting her life to helping others.
Mrs Joss, who died at the weekend, was not only the driving force behind countless projects in the Granite City, but a leading light in the lives of many.
After battling for years to beat her own demons, she turned her life around to become a pillar of strength for “everyone and anyone”, who needed a helping hand.
In an inspiring message of hope to anyone dealing with the struggle of addiction, her family revealed how her “love and belief” in people pulled her out of her “darkest times”.
The mother-of-four had been sober for 11 years before she suddenly died on Sunday, aged 55.
‘Angela believed everyone deserves a second chance’
For her husband Steve, 61, and her children – Megan, Jacob, Abi and Darcey – she was the “personification of hope”, who “always made everyone feel loved and cared for”.
Steve, who married Mrs Joss in 2007, said: “She did everything for the right reasons.
“Every few days she would ask me to drive her around the city to water all the plants, and she would just clean all the cigarette butts out of the flower beds and take care of them.
“She’s always had a love for the city, for the environment and for the people.
“When she was drinking she was a nightmare, and she knew that, but she came through the end of it.
“And she said that so many people had given her so many chances, including the kids and me, that she wants to do the same for other people.
“She hit rock bottom and pulled herself back up and this is why she got involved with all these organisations.
“I’m surprised and amazed how I knew her so well and still, how little I knew about all the people whose lives she’s touched.
“She was reliable and she was always there. No matter who it was, she always made time for everybody.
“I’m absolutely shocked and so proud. She really deserves it and I just wish she was here to see this.
“We just want her to be remembered for what she was – somebody who did so much and touched so many lives.”
‘She will live on in everything she created’
From being the leading force in Aberdeen Inspired to her involvement in the hugely popular Nuart festival, Mrs Joss was as embedded in her community, as the flowers she so tenderly cared for.
She had recently set up her own company Green and Bee which focused on getting those who may be socially excluded involved with community or eco-friendly projects, such as beekeeping.
A director of Alcohol and Drug Action, she managed to combine her passions in 2018 by bringing the charity together with Aberdeen Inspired to give recovering addicts the chance to become beekeepers – on the roof of His Majesty’s Theatre.
Mrs Joss’s second eldest child and only son, Jacob, said she was an inspiration for “people to be better”.
The 24-year-old said: “She was one of the fairly few people in the community that believed in something which was genuinely bigger than herself.
“She would always work towards the next big thing and towards making people better and making herself, us and the community better, because it starts with small ripples and then it makes big waves.
“She was literally the personification of hope – hope for people and hope for the community, and for a mindset that everything will be okay and will get better.”
‘Our favourite memory is our whole life with her’
Megan, 25, and Darcey, 16, described their mum as a “spectacular” person they always looked up to – whether that would be for her giving nature or her love for unusual choice of hair colour.
Twenty-year-old Abi added: “She has given so much to so many people, especially us – maybe even more than what we deserve.
“She believed in people. She always powered through and thought that everyone deserves the best that she can give.
“Even in her own darkest times, she always gave us the light at the end of the tunnel, the support that we needed and hope.
“She was everyone’s favourite person and everyone had so many great memories with her.
“But to us, she was just the best mother and wife. She was spectacular, inspiring, and a powerhouse. Our favourite memory is our whole life with her.
“She is just someone who you would never forget and she will live on.”