Georgina Fordyce, who has died aged 95, was a farmer’s wife who spent her entire life at the heart of the Monymusk community.
She was born in the parish, baptised and married in Monymusk church, where her funeral service was also held.
Afterwards, mourners enjoyed tea and coffee in the village hall, where she had met her husband, Sandy, in 1948.
The pair farmed at Bridgefoot from the 1950s until 2017 when they retired to Inverurie.
Sandy, who died in 2020, and Georgina (Ena) grew crops, finished cattle but also bred their own Aberdeen-Angus cattle.
In 2000, their bull, Jeremy Eric of Bridgefoot, sold for 28,000 guineas at Perth Bull Sales, the highest price paid for an Aberdeen-Angus in 35 years.
It was bought by the Fraser family of the Idvies herd, Letham, Forfar, where it proved to be one of the most successful sires in the British Isles.
Jeremy Eric was considered to be a perfect specimen and was chosen as the model for the Alford Bull, a bronze sculpture that sits at the entrance to the village to commemorate Alford man William McCombie, one of the breed’s founders in the 1800s.
Georgina was born in August 1928 to James and Grace McKenzie, who farmed at Ordmill, Monymusk. She was the youngest of four after Alex, and twins Jimmy and Grace.
She was baptised in Monymusk church, educated in the village primary school and then went to secondary school in Kemnay.
Ena studied at secretarial college in Aberdeen before working for a firm of solicitors in the city and then at Craibstone agricultural college.
She sang in the church choir at Monymusk and it was on the day Sandy Fordyce joined the church that she caught his eye.
The pair later met properly a dance in the village hall in 1948 and courted for six years before getting married at Monymusk church.
They began farming at Bridgefoot and had two of a family, Gail and Sandy.
Gail said: “My mother was very much a farmer’s wife, baking and cooking wholesome food and doing the accounts. She fed everyone who came to the house, from family to sales representatives.
“She also looked after sick animals. Many times she took in a sicky lamb and cosied it by the fire and these lambs grew to be as big and strong as the rest.
“When my parents moved to sheltered housing in Inverurie they were so happy. We were worried about how they would take to it but they made friends, had a very different life to what they had before and had a wonderful time.”
Devoted reader
Ena was a lifelong reader of The Press and Journal and, when she moved to Inverurie, had time to do the crossword every day.
Gail said: “She got the P&J until her dying day. Even when the newsagent closed and it went to direct delivery she kept it on.
“My mother was very active in the church; a member of the congregational board, a faithful baker for many events and her and a friend ran a cake and candy stall for the church.”
You can read the family’s announcement here.
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