Avis was a friend to many people in the world-wide community of Scottish Country Dancing. She, sadly, passed away on 27 th of January, after a short illness.

Avis was born just before her twin sister Rae in Hull on the 12th November 1934. When WW2 broke out the two girls were evacuated to Scarborough. Later in life, when visiting Scarborough for Scottish dance weekends Avis would join us for a paddle, telling stories of doing just that, as a young girl, when they lived there.

Avis was married twice - in 1954 to Paddy and in 1975 to Alan. In 1987 she retired from the Transport and General Workers Union, where she worked as a secretary.

Avis began Scottish Country Dancing in her twenties and gained her Teacher’s Certificate with the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society in 1968 with Jean Milligan examining her. She began her class at St. Columba’s URC in Headingley in 1964 which she ran for 50 years until 2014. Avis’ St. Columba’s class was always a great supplier of enthusiastic dancers for both the Leeds Scottish Country Dance Club and the Leeds Branch of the RSCDS, for which she also taught on and off after 1969. Several of us used to eagerly arrive early at St Columba’s, in order to practice some highland steps before the class began. Avis was respected for the clarity of her instructions, her lessons were meticulously planned and the events that she organised went like clockwork, due to the many hours that she spent in preparation.

Avis was well known across the world as a teacher of Scottish Country Dancing and Ladies’ Step Dancing. She taught at the RSCDS’ Summer School in St Andrews between the years of 1987 - 2003. Avis travelled the world, demonstrating and teaching dancing. She travelled to the USA, Canada and Australia many times, to teach, and made many friends among the Scottish Dancing fraternity. She was also a major organiser of exchange visits between the Leeds Branch of the RSCDS and many overseas folk dance groups including Sweden, Norway, Germany, France, The Netherlands and Austria.

Avis was a very well known figure on the social dance scene in the Leeds area and was well known for having her handbag full of chocolate and toffees which she used to share at the end of the night.

Later in life, Avis enjoyed cruising with her sister, Rae and her friend, Christine. Avis often used to go to stay with Christine, who lived in Jersey, teaching the local class whilst she was there. Avis loved clothes and would buy many new ones on her travels, accumulating so many, she often had to parcel them up to send home or would have had a lot of excess baggage on the flight back!

We will remember Avis as a true friend with a heart of gold and have happy memories of regular visits to local fish and chip restaurants to enjoy her favourite food, followed by an evening of card games. She will be sadly missed.