Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Derick Edward: Stonehaven-born police officer and artist who tackled gunman dies at 91

He loved his childhood in the Mearns and, for the rest of his life, would reminisce about growing up there.

Derick presents a painting of Dundee to Lord Provost Tom Mitchell.
Derick presents a painting of Dundee to Lord Provost Tom Mitchell.

Decorated former police officer and artist Derick Edward, who grew up in Stonehaven and Laurencekirk, has died aged 91.

He took up painting seriously in the 1960s when he was given a set of oil paints and quickly established himself as a sought-after artist.

Derick, who received a Queen’s Commendation for Bravery in Dundee in 1974, became friends with fellow artist, James McIntosh Patrick.

The two would spend evenings in McIntosh Patrick’s studio discussing their respective work. Derick considered McIntosh Patrick a mentor and often sought advice on aspects of painting he found challenging.

Derick joined the police in Dundee in the late 1950s and worked into the 1980s before embarking on a second career in security.

Derick Edward on the beat in Dundee.

He was born in Stonehaven in October 1932 to William and Alice Edward. William, known as Bill, worked as an engineer in the gasworks and younger brother Billy came along nine years later.

Derick loved his childhood in Stonehaven and, for the rest of his life, would reminisce about growing up there.

He was educated at Mackie Academy, Stonehaven, and continued his schooling there even after his dad secured a promotion to manager of Laurencekirk gasworks. The family moved there when Derick was around 14 years.

When he left school he became an apprentice joiner in Laurencekirk and in his spare time liked to golf, cycle and play piano. From a young age, he took an interest in drawing. At weekends he would attend dances in nearby Montrose, Stonehaven or Aberdeen.

In 1953 he was called up for national service and joined the Royal Military Police, serving in Germany where he was promoted to corporal in 1955.

He made many friends, from Scotland, England and Holland and kept in touch with them for the rest of his life.

Craigievar Castle by Derick Edward.

After he served his two years he returned to carpentry in Laurencekirk and while attending a dance at the Locarno in Montrose, met his future wife, Heather Omand.

The couple married in 1958 and had two children, Janet, and the late Derick.

Janet said: “My mum’s father used to serve in the police in Shanghai and during chats with my granda, my dad, as he was unfulfilled as a joiner, felt this might be the career for him and decided to join the police.

“He chose Dundee and completed his training in 1957. My dad’s career was spent in Dundee. He loved being a police officer, was in traffic and CID but most of all he preferred being a beat bobby where he could mix with the public more.”

In 1974 when Derick was 42, he and civilian Douglas McKay, 32, of Menzieshill, tackled a gunman who had shot at a police officer during a break-in at a shop. Both Derek and Mr McKay were presented with bravery awards by Lord Provost Tom Moore.

Dundee Lord Provost Tom Moore presents bravery awards to Derick Edward, right, and Douglas McKay.

Although he had painted in watercolours all his life, it was not until his wife gave him oil paints in the 1960s that he began to take his art more seriously.

Janet said: “It was then he began entering competitions. He was self taught and never had an art lesson in his life. He remained an amateur artist throughout his life.
His subject matter varied but he loved landscapes and soon found his paintings began winning competitions and sold easily.

Derick Edward presents a painting of Crail harbour to Dr Shirley McEwan, chairman of Scottish Heart and Arterial Risk Prevention to be auctioned for the charity.

“Craigievar Castle would have been one of his first oil paintings. In 1976 he entered a competition in Dundee which the prize was to spend two weeks in Dundee’s twin city of Alexandria in Virginia.

“My dad painted a representation of Dundee and spent two weeks in the US accompanied by the Lord Provost where he also visited the local police force and made lasting friendships.”

Among his many commissions was a painting of Mains Castle for Lorraine Kelly’s wedding, civic Christmas cards and calendars.

He sold at many exhibitions and his work made its to countries around the world. In recent years he had focused on scenes of old Dundee which were made into prints.

Derick’s funeral took place at Dundee crematorium on March 7.

You can read the family’s announcement here.

Conversation