Local hero with a real passion to help others
MY FATHER
MY father, William Aitken, lived his childhood in a different era. At 14, he started work down the coalpits of Fife. The year was 1947, when the Government took control of collieries across a land still reeling from the shock of the Second World War.
Coal mining would define my father’s life. His parents had moved from Blantyre in Lanarkshire so his father could work in the Fife coalfields. He spent his entire working life in his father’s footsteps, first at Kinglassie Pit and then at Seafield in Kirkcaldy, from 1966 to 1986.
His early start in the pits meant he had to forego a formal education. But that is not to say his was a life without ambition. Willie, as he was known, was a natural organiser – and as the sixth of nine children, he grew up in a house brimming with energy. It was that energy he brought to the National Union of Mineworkers.
He played a large part in building support for the miners and their families during the strikes of the 1970s and the last strike of 1984-1985. He was brought up on stories of how he was related to Labour Party founder Keir Hardie, backed up by research I undertook in 2010 – so it is perhaps no surprise he was a committed member of the Labour Party.
He was a member of Fife County Council, Kirkcaldy District Council and Fife Council. He served for 37 years as a local councillor, retiring at 73. His dedication was immense and his commitment to his constituents of Kinglassie, Bowhill and Dundonald earned him a reputation that will not soon be forgotten.
Willie was a beloved husband and father. He married my mother Isobel in 1958. They had two children and were Fifers through and through, living all their married life in Kinglassie. Sadly, he spent his later years in residential care following a diagnosis of dementia in 2010.
My father showed the same determination, courage, resilience and humour throughout his illness that he had shown in his years of public service.
When he passed last year, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who he admired greatly, said: ‘Willie Aitken was a local hero. No one knew more of the needs of local communities than Willie. He was the first to help constituents in distress. He will be remembered by all the families he helped and for his passionate desire to improve local services and to build the strongest sense of community.’
I know my father would have treasured those words.