Marr benefactor has pride of place
The fancy new part of Marr College in Troon had everything . . . except mention of the great man whose generosity has given generations of children a fine education.
That glaring ommission was rectified on Friday as a plaque honouring Charles Kerr Marr was unveiled.
In fact it was exactly 101 years since the death of the philantropist industrialist.
The plaque takes pride of place in the shiny new entrance hall - but is screwed into the original stone that the benefactor’s money laid.
Former councillor Nan McFarlane was the key driver in gaining recognition for CK
Marr at the new entrance.
She approached head teacher George Docherty and then the
Marr Trust which financed it.
There’s already a bust of him at the old entrance but few folk were now seeing it.
And Nan, quoting from the ancient Greek politician, said:
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.
And CK Marr certainly did that.”
Not only did the Troon born gent fund the school and resource centre in the town, but every child in Troon who goes into further education gets a generous bursary to this day.
He died childless in 1919 and left £ 331,000 to educate the people of Troon.
His legacy to Troon was the equivalent of about £ 16.5 million.
The 1935 school and its 55 acre site cost around £ 204,000. The original building retains oak panelled class rooms, inlaid parquet flooring, Italian tiled corridors and a copper dome.