Stalwart of the Uddingston community has died, less than three months after losing his wife of 67 years

Sam Thurley passed away at his home in Loancroft Gardens on Sunday.

Originally from Meldreth near Cambridge, Sam met his future wife Anne when he was serving in the RAF at a base near Annan and she in the WRAF,

He was transferred to Palestine in the Middle East, but after leaving service he joined Anne and they were married on January 26, 1952, in Portland Church, Troon.

The couple set up home in Clydebank, with Sam becoming a chartered accountant.

They were joined in the family home by daughter Linda in 1955 and son David two years later before moving to Uddingston in 1963 with Sam becoming internal auditor for Lanark County and later Chief Internal Auditor for Strathclyde Region.

Sam was treasurer of Uddingston Cricket Club as well as serving on the Contregational Board of Uddingston Old Parish Church where he was also an elder, Sunday School teacher and treasurer.

His other interests included gardening and poetry, and having loved picking fruit as a boy in Cambridge was able to do this again when David bought a small holding in Lanarkshire.

Sam and Anne, who was the village’s correspondent for the Bellshill Speaker across five decades, were devoted to each throughout their 67 years of marriage prior to her February passing.

His funeral takes place on Wednesday at 11am in Uddingston Old Parish, then Daldowie Crematorium at noon.