Mac Heatlie from Edinburgh passed away last week and his funeral was on Monday 2nd July.
He had fallen and injured his chest and the doctors think that he contracted a fatal infection. .
Mac Heatlie was from the Scottish Borders and attended St. Andrews University where he graduated in Physics and Chemistry. After working in industry for a while, he became a lecturer at Telford College in his own subjects plus photography, in which he was deeply interested. In fact, everything in which he developed an interest was almost obsessively investigated and every book on the subject was read.
He and his wife Katalin had an amazing rock garden in Swanston View in Edinburgh and when he became interested in cacti as well, a large greenhouse housing hundreds of plants. He was also a very popular speaker and judge among the branches of the National Cactus and Succulent Society. Mac and Katalin were fine growers of both cacti and alpines.
Mac’s last passion was his greatest: from attending classes in gemmology, he was inevitably soon teaching them and became one of the country’s finest experts in precious stones, particularly diamonds. It was ironically when he was preparing vessels for enthusiasts to pan for gold that he fell and caused the infection which was to prove fatal. Although he had suffered from leukaemia for many years, Mac coped stoically with his illness and never let it prevent him from pursuing his interests.
Mac was 76 when he died and leaves a wife, Katalin and a son, Andrew.
We are grateful to Vera Reid and Stan da Prato for sending this news.
