The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Gifted Ian was a family man at heart
Ian Foggie, former advertising manager for DC Thomson, has died aged 88. He spent nearly half a century with the firm, latterly at the heart of commercial activities.
In the words of his successor Arthur Mcewan, Ian was an ideas man who even kept a notepad at his bedside to record brainwaves.
Ian was also a devoted family man, he had been a skilful junior footballer in his youth and went on to become an accomplished golfer.
He started work with DC Thomson in 1949, had a spell in the firm’s Fleet Street office in London before returning to Dundee and rising to head the advertising department before retiring in 1998.
James Ian Foggie was born in Dundee on December 4, 1933, the first child of Andrew Foggie, a clerk with Dundee Corporation, and his wife Joanna.
The family home was at 46 Glenprosen Terrace, Dundee, and Ian was later joined by siblings Sheila, Eric and Ralph.
He attended Rockwell primary and achieved good enough grades to be accepted for a place at Harris Academy.
From a young age, Ian possessed an enterprising streak and earned a few extra shillings furnishing coffins and delivering them on a barrow to the local funeral directors.
In his youth, Ian’s passion was football and he was an avid fan of Dundee FC.
Ian played for various junior sides throughout the 1950s, including Violet, Stobswell, Arnot and Carnoustie Panmure.
He was a free-scoring outside-left and his exploits soon attracted the attention of Dundee United.
Sadly, however, the date of the Ian’s trial with United coincided with a family wedding, and he could not attend – he always wondered what might have been.
In addition to football, Ian played violin with the school and also with The Boys’ Brigade. A highlight for him was being able to perform at the Caird Hall.
His National Service was spent working in the control tower at RAF Kinloss.
Ian’s working life commenced with a brief spell with wine and whisky merchant W&S Strong in Dock Street, before he started work with DC Thomson.
It was there he met his future wife, Patricia Brown (Pat) who worked in the circulation department.
They married at Balgay Church in March 1957 and set up home in Princes Street before buying a house in Charleston Drive.
In October 1964 their daughter Jill was born.
Ian was making his mark with DC Thomson and in 1966, he was asked to go to Fleet Street to work with the Weekly News and People’s Journal.
The family settled in West Wickham and in October that year, son Neil was born.
While Ian and Pat enjoyed life in London, with two young children the family were keen to return to Dundee and in 1970 they set up home at 7 Clive Road, with Ian’s parents living at number 8, directly across the road.
Ian was now based in DC Thomson’s Bank Street offices, and worked his way up to the role of advertising manager.
With his football career behind him, golf became Ian’s passion and he became a season ticket holder at Carnoustie and joined both Carnoustie and Mercantile golf clubs.
Ian soon reached a low handicap mark of four and would go on to reach the final of the Carnoustie Mercantile Club Championship.
In 1974 the family moved to Carnoustie to live in Carlogie Road before, in 1987, Ian and Pat identified a rundown cottage and overgrown field in Panbride Road and they transformed the property and created a beautiful back garden from the field.
Although Ian spent the bulk of his working life in Bank Street, as retirement came closer, he had a spell at the Kingsway East offices before returning to the city centre to work at Meadowside.
Ian thoroughly enjoyed his working life and in his own words in his retirement speech he regarded his beloved DC Thomson advertising department as his “day-time family”. Golfing and gardening were Ian’s main pastimes in retirement. However, he began to develop dementia in 2010 and sadly lost Pat in 2016.
Since early 2018 Ian had lived at Braehilll Lodge Care Home in Carnoustie where he was an active and popular resident and also regularly attended Carnoustie Memories sessions.
Mr Mcewan, said: “Ian was great to work with. He was always coming up with ideas and he told me he used to keep a notepad on his bedside table.
“If he had an idea during the night, he would write it down, bound in the next morning and pick on someone to put it to the test. He did everything at speed. We used to joke that his golf swing was like a flash and if he slowed down it would still be a blur.”