Anne Tunstall, who served as a councillor in Kincardine and Deeside, Grampian Region, then Aberdeenshire, has died age 92.
In he late 1980s Anne, of Newtonhill, was elected to the former Kincardine and Deeside District Council, as a Liberal Democrat member.
From 1992 until local government reorganisation in 1996, she served as a councillor with Grampian Regional Council before representing Portlethen North on the new Aberdeenshire Council.
Anne was born in London but fell in love with the north-east of Scotland when she moved here because of her husband, Dr Michael Tunstall’s work.
Innovator
Dr Tunstall, who had been a consultant obstetric anaesthetist in Aberdeen, was the inventor of the gas-and-air mix, Entonox in 1961, which radically improved the safety and quality of childbirth.
The couple, with their first son, Chris, moved from Portsmouth in 1962 when Michael began work in Aberdeen with Sir Dugald Baird, regius professor of midwifery.
They went on to have two more children, Michael in 1964 and Amanda in 1968.
Anne Norman Tunstall was born in 1930 to Edith and John Steele.
Education
Her childhood years saw the start of the Second World War during which time she began her studies at Lewisham Prendergast Grammar School.
In 1948, Anne went on to study and train as a general nurse at University College Hospital, London, before training as a midwife at Brighton General Hospital.
After the establishment of the National Health Service, it became the requirement for nurses and doctors to train and work in multiple disciplines around the whole of the UK.
Career
Anne’s career started in 1952 as a staff nurse at University College Hospital, London, and from 1953 to 1954 she was stationed at Bromley Hospital.
During her time at UCH, she met her future husband, Dr Michael Eric Tunstall, and they married in 1954.
Fully supportive of her husband’s career, Michael became the most important contributor to obstetric anaesthesia in the UK, and the inventor of Entonox.
In 1957 while working as a staff nurse in a Shanklin nursing home on the Isle of Wight, Anne gave birth to their first son Christopher John Tunstall.
The family returned to the mainland where Anne worked as matron at the Cheshire Home, Bromley, from 1958 to 1959.
Move north
From there, her husband was transferred to Portsmouth, working as a senior registrar in anaesthetics from 1959 to 1962, before the move to Aberdeen.
The family fell in love with the landscapes of the area and made their home in Newtonhill.
In 1973, Anne became a driving instructor and from 1975 to 1985, worked as a cadet nurse coordinator at Kingseat and Cornhill Hospitals, Aberdeen.
Away from medicine and politics, Anne made time at the weekends to help her best friend, Christine Riley, in her needlework shop in Stonehaven.
Both Anne and Michael were keen sailors, volunteers and helpers at Aberdeen Stonehaven Yacht Club.
Sport
They encouraged their children in the sport. Christopher was a member of the British Laser Sailing Team and Gareth represented Scotland in laser sailing.
Anne was an active member of many organisations including Crossroads Care Attendant Scheme, Kincardine and Deeside Voluntary Action Resource Centre, Grampian Society for the Blind, and Easter Anguston School.
A memorial service will be held at St Ternan’s Episcopal Church, Muchalls, on Friday, October 28, at noon.
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