Page 36 - QARANC Vol 19 No 2 2021

34 The Gazette QARANC Association
Obituaries
Linda Kay Foster (nee Brown) 19 September 1949 – 10 December 2020
Linda Kay Foster (known as Lin) was born in Huntly, Aberdeenshire and raised in the nearby village of Kemnay. The daughter of a baker and a teacher, and the eldest of four sisters, she had fond memories of school holidays spent in Rothiemay, Banffshire where her beloved grandfather was a blacksmith. Lin always felt lucky to have grown up in a such a close-knit family, and no matter where she was in the world, wrote to her Mum every week for over 50 years.
During her time at secondary school, Lin supplemented her pocket
money with two part time
jobs: a paper round and
work in the local ‘chippy’
(fish and chip shop). On
leaving school, she held a
clerical job in Aberdeen for
a short period of time before joining the QARANC to train as a nurse in February 1969. After completing basic training at the QARANC Training Centre, Aldershot she was posted to the Cambridge Military Hospital for twelve months followed by a post in the Far East. She always said that joining the Army had been ‘a good move’ particularly on St Valentine’s Day 1970 when she met her future husband, Lance Corporal Tom Foster RAMC in the Small Bar, BMH Singapore. Tom had been posted to the hospital from the Commonwealth Military Hospital, Terendak, Malaysia via the Change of Air Station up in The Cameron Highlands. It was love at first sight for them both.
Shortly after meeting each other, Tom was detached to Medical Reception Station Seria, Brunei for seven months in support of the Gurkhas. They wrote to each other regularly and Tom managed to hitch a lift on a couple of flights back to see Lin. Such was their love for each other, they were married on 9 January 1971 at All Saints Church, Wessex Estate, Singapore followed by a reception at The Anophel Inn, Force Malarial Control Unit. Tom had written to Lin’s father formally seeking his permission to marry her in Singapore but did not meet her family until six months after the wedding. He has
never forgotten booking in advance, a three-minute telephone call from the General Post Office, Singapore to Lin’s parents in Scotland, to speak with them immediately after the wedding. Today they would make an instant WhatsApp video call!
Lin qualified as a State Enrolled Nurse on 23 June 1972, leaving the service shortly afterwards because she was pregnant with her first child. Leaving the service on pregnancy was
a military regulation at that time. Over the next thirty years, Lin managed to keep family life on an even keel as she coped with twenty- five changes of address across the Middle East, Far East, Europe, and all over the UK. Lin was proud to ‘follow the flag’ and support
Tom throughout his military career. He freely admits that he would never have been successful in the Army without her by his side.
Lin and Tom were married for almost fifty years. Family meant everything to Lin, and her daughters, Kathleen and Maureen, knew that their Mum was there for them no matter the situation. Her grandchildren Dylan, Ryan, Caitlin, Corban, Connor, Aiden and twins Liam and Cameron brought her immense joy and all of them have wonderful memories of their Nan which will last a lifetime. She was particularly popular amongst them when once
asked if she could make
them apple crumble and
custard for breakfast and the
answer was yes!
Lin’s interests were many
and varied. A talented
maker of topsy-turvy dolls,
examples of her work are
treasured by hundreds of children. She loved her holidays in Tenerife, and music, especially Leonard Cohen, who Tom thought depressing but grew to appreciate. She wrote beautiful poetry and was a proud member of a local poetry club called the Fantooshers (‘fantoosh’ being a Scottish word meaning flashy, showy and sophisticated, but very much tongue in cheek). Her love of literature
Lin Foster on holiday in Turkey
and poetry led to her achieving a BA (Hons) in Humanities with the Open University in 2009.
Tom retired from the Army in 2003 and with Lin, quietly helped in the local community. This was an important part of Lin’s life, wherever she had been, whether it was supporting the spouses of soldiers in their unit when their partners deployed on military operations or assisting Tom during his tenure as Captain of Helensburgh Golf Club, and Patron Member and Fixture Secretary at Helensburgh Rugby Club. She was Secretary to the Arthritis Care organisation and regularly collected donations for Save the Children. She coordinated the local Contact the Elderly group and together they hosted its annual event at their home. Always proud of her military connections, she
was a staunch supporter of the Scottish Branch of the QA Association.
In 1997, they settled in their new home in Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute. Called Burtonhill, the house is well known in the town, and had previously been owned by
Marty Pellow, the lead singer in the group Wet, Wet, Wet. Lin very quickly stamped the Foster mark on the place turning it into a warm and welcoming home full of laughter for family and friends. She was a great cook, a fabulous baker and an even better host. She was proud of the friendships she had maintained from her own Army days and with Tom as a couple, and had made many new friends after
Lin was proud to ‘follow the flag’ and support Tom throughout his military career
She was a great cook, a fabulous baker and an even better host