Daughters showcase mum’s crafting talents
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A DETERMINED husband’s wish to hold an exhibition of his beloved wife’s craft work came true – just weeks after he passed away.
Doreen Bremner was known as a talented craftswoman in Caithness, winning a number of prizes for her work at SWRI events and agricultural shows.
After the 69-year-old lost her long battle with cancer, her husband, James, decided to hold a special event to showcase her incredible work.
But six weeks after the death of his wife, he too passed away, aged 75, after also fighting a long battle with cancer.
The couple’s heartbroken daughters, Alison Bremner and Frances Bannerman, were determined to make their father’s vision become a reality and with the help of members of Scrabster WRI they made his dream come true.
A collection of Doreen’s work was subsequently displayed at Scrabster Hall where a number of her items were on sale. The event raised over £1030 for the Scrabster Fishermen’s Mission.
Miss Bremner (47) said that her mother was an accomplished designer who was respected throughout the county for her handicraft talents.
She said that her father was very proud of her mother and was determined that her memory should be marked after her death.
"Scrabster WRI wanted to hold an exhibition of my mother’s work when she was still alive as she had been so successful, but she was completely against the idea as she was a very modest woman," she said.
"After her death in February, the group and my father were in discussions about holding an event in the middle of April.
"But my father died 10 days before it was due to take place and therefore it had to be cancelled.
"My sister and I were determined that it would go ahead, not just in memory of my mother but also in tribute to my father who was so looking forward to it."
Doreen, who lived in St Clair Avenue, Scrabster, with her husband, had been a member of Scrabster WRI for 28 years and had become well known as one of the most talented handicraft designers in the county, creating items such as cross-stitch, pictures, clothing and even dolls’ outfits.
She was most prolific at the Caithness County Show and every year she walked away with at least one award over almost 30 years of competition.
She had been working on two garments that were to be entered at this year’s show at Thurso East in July, but will now never be completed.
A number of items were sold at the exhibition on April 28 with all the money going to the Scrabster mission, a request of their late father and where both funerals had taken place.
Miss Bremner said that her family was astounded by the number of people who attended the exhibition and wanted to buy the quality items that her mother had created.
"It was such a lovely feeling to see so many people at the hall who had so many nice things to say about the work that she produced and wanted to take home with them," she said.
"We were also pleased that my father’s wishes were honoured by raising so much money for the Scrabster mission as this paid tribute to both their lives."
