Craigievar architect, husband, dad-of-four, grandfather and church elder, Maurice Jones has died aged 72.
Borders born
He was born in Selkirk on October 5 1950. His mother Ella was a shop assistant and his father, Joseph, worked as a costing clerk in a tweed mill.
The couple had four children, though their second oldest, Billy, died as a child.
He attended Knowepark Primary, then Selkirk High School. Though he never really enjoyed school he did revel in the opportunity to take part in athletics, especially cross-country running.
In his spare time he was a member of The Boys’ Brigade, earning the highest honour, the Queen’s Badge. Helping out at a local farm also took up his time, as did working as a delivery boy for an ironmonger.
Aspiring architect
Maurice always had ambition to be an architect but left school without adequate qualifications. Instead, he began work as a trainee draughtsman for an architects’ firm in Galashiels.
Seeing his potential, his employers encouraged him to send his portfolio to the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture in Aberdeen. Part of Robert Gordon Institute of Technology, he was accepted on merit and began studying in 1970.
Student life appealed to Maurice and he became involved with the student association. His love of athletics still at the fore, he was elected vice-president of the athletic association in 1971 and became president the following year. He also helped set up a student volleyball team which went on to take second place in the Scottish volleyball league.
Falling in love
One of his duties as athletic association president was to welcome first-year students to the college. At a freshers’ dance he met Orcadian home economics student Ruth Laughton. The young couple began dating and later married in St Magnus Cathedral Kirkwall, in April 1975.
After a Scottish honeymoon they moved to their first home in Aberdeen to continue their studies.
Once qualified, Maurice’s career flourished. From joining a firm of architects to becoming partner he eventually set up on his own as Maurice Jones Architect, in office space at Gordon Mitchell Timber Systems, outside Banchory.
Craigievar life
In 1975 the first of the couple’s four children, Anne-Marie, was born followed by Karen in 1977.
In 1979 the family bought an old farm steading at Craigievar. With his wife and children in a nearby cottage, Maurice was able to convert the property into a family home.
“He’d be at work during the day and if he had a problem to solve here in the house he would ask someone on site. Maurice was always coming home with a wee bit of paper with a scribble on it, hopefully a solution,” Ruth said. “More often than not, it worked.”
Their son Gareth was born in 1981, and Simon completed the family two years later.
Man of faith
During his career Maurice worked on hundreds of projects but as a Christian he was proud of work he did for churches.
His projects included work at Birse and Feughside Church, Finzean, and at Mid Deeside Church – formed when Lumphanan church joined Torphins to become Mid Deeside, where he was a long-serving elder.
He also designed the conversion of Crathie manse buildings into cottages to provide holiday accommodation for people with disabilities.
Happy memories
“When we were children dad told us he went up the outside of the spire of St Mary’s Cathedral, in Aberdeen. He needed to go up in the bosun’s chair – basically a plank of wood with a rope to hoist him to the top.
“It both terrified him and made him proud that he had got up there. And we were always proud too whenever we saw the spire,” said Maurice’s daughter Karen.
Maurice was able to combine his passions of architecture and faith when he was invited to join CARTA (the Committee on Church Art and Architecture).
This meant he visited many church properties and wrote reports for the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland.
Lewy body dementia
Maurice moved his office to his home in 2014 following a diagnosis of Lewy Body dementia. Unable to drive he stopped taking on new jobs and finally retired when the last of his existing jobs was completed.
The second most common form of dementia, it’s often misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s Disease.
“It was a very difficult diagnosis. Maurice found out in a sentence that he would not be allowed to drive again. Losing his independence was hard for him,” said Ruth.
In an attempt to raise awareness, Maurice’s son Simon asked people to donate to the Lewy Body Society instead of gifts for his 40th birthday. This raised over £1000.
In Dundee, Maurice took part in two research programmes to try to find a medicine which would help sufferers of Lewy Body dementia.
Latterly he was invited to join the Forget-Me-Not Club in Banchory, and then in Alford, a group supporting families of dementia sufferers by providing respite.
“It gave him a wee bit of independence back,” said Karen. “Although he kept forgetting the name and called it the Marigold club, which became a bit of joke between us and dad. We were all very grateful for the support he got there.”
Proud family man
Over the years Maurice was an important part of the Craigievar community, involved with the hall committee and ran a youth club when his children were young.
Towards the end of his life one of his carers mentioned she attended the club he ran.
Family also remained extremely important to Maurice. He had great pride in his children and their partners Neil, Graeme, Julie and Christine. He was also a proud and loving grandad to his six grandchildren “who he absolutely adored”.
Final farewell
Maurice passed away peacefully, surrounded by family at home, on Sunday July 23.
Following his wishes a private family funeral was held on Monday July 31 at the family home, conducted by their minister.
“It was a beautiful way to celebrate Maurice, in a way that the children were able to be part of,” said Ruth. “He was the heart of the family and so this was a way to make sure we were able to all be part of his funeral. Just the way he wanted.”
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