March 25, 2011
Mary Gardner: Tributes paid to a special and dedicated Christian person Comments Off
A Scots Christian campaigner from Scotland who worked in the Third World has been killed in a bomb blast in Jerusalem.
Mary Gardner, 59, who previously taught in Orkney, was the only fatality. She was caught up in the explosion caused by a bomb placed in a phone booth as she stood at a bus station in the Israeli city.
She died in hospital from her injuries despite desperate efforts by paramedics following Wednesday’s terror attack.
Ms Gardner, who was studying Hebrew at the city’s Hebrew University, was employed by the Wycliffe Society, which works to provide translations of the Bible to the estimated 340 million people who can’t read it in their own language.
Mary’s parents Jean, 81, and Tony, 82, who live in the Aberdeenshire village of Old Rayne, paid tribute to their eldest child.
Mr Gardner said: “We are all devastated by the sudden loss of our daughter in this tragic and unexpected way.
“Mary was a very special person and we thought the world of her. She was devoted to her work and was well liked wherever she went.
“We are proud of her and all that she has achieved in her life and feel truly blessed to have had her in our lives.”
Having been a peripatetic French teacher at Stromness Academy and the small island secondaries on Westray, Sanday and Stronsay, she left for Africa 20 years ago, but is still remembered in the community.
James Stockan, the Vice-Convener of Orkney Islands Council, knew her as a friend of his mother’s.
He said yesterday: “It saddens me deeply to hear of the death of Mary Gardner. Terrorism incidents across the world can seem so far removed from our life in Orkney, but this incident shows that sadly this is not always the case.
“Mary was a teacher in Orkney around 20 years ago and was well known to myself and my family.
“She was a brave, tenacious lady whose achievements in translating and teaching the Bible for the people of Togo were immense.”
• Full story at The Herald.
