Email from Ian Brown to Ian Nelson, 28 Oct 2014

Hello Ian, I came across your family tree site and am able to add some information which may fill a few gaps in the tree regarding Letitia Ritchie(nee Nelson) and James Nelson, her brother. Letitia Ritchie died in Hartwood Hospital at 18.30 on 6th November 1972, the funeral took place on Thursday 9th November and she was interred in Shotts cemetery. I attended the funeral with Jimmy Nelson, her brother, I grew up in an adjacent flat to where he lived at 46 Allands Avenue, Inchinnan, in a house rented from India Tyres/Dunlop where he was a production worker. I only heard of the funeral late on the Wednesday evening, he had been desperately seeking assistance with transport and I was able to drive him through to Shotts for the funeral the next day. Jimmy was a widower at this time, his wife predeceased him in December 1970, I can’t recall the date but the funeral was on a Saturday and I also attended the service in the house for his wife who had been an invalid for quite a number of years. She had been confined to a bath chair, one of the old-fashioned reclining ones, for a number of years with a neurological condition although she had been ambulatory when we were neighbours and I was at school. I believe they had a son, I recall him turning up at the house on a motor bike. The story of Letitia Ritchie was very sad indeed, I understand that her health declined considerably in the wake of her husband’s death in WW1. I met and spoke to members of the Ritchie family in a local hotel after the funeral. My recollections of the funeral also include how visibly upset many of the nursing staff were who attended the burial. Jimmy’s own health was in decline at this time and he died the following September. I’ve used the name Jimmy but I recall he signed Christmas cards as Jimmie. kind regards ian brown