Zeta Club - Details of 40 year Reunion

Ann Taylor (née Torrance)

Anne Torrance

Tribute submitted by Gillian Ryrie 15/10/10

Anne and I became friends in 2^nd year at University and remained so till her untimely death in 2005, after a relatively short illness. She became unwell in the June of that year and died in the October. She is survived by her husband Bob and their 2 children, Kate and Rob.

Life was never dull with Anne as a friend and I think we complemented each other well as friends. We enjoyed University life to the full and travelled together to parts of Europe, and of course took part in the great exodus to the USA in 1969 where we both worked as externs in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

After graduation and house jobs we went our separate ways. Anne initially worked in Springburn as a GP, then went to Buckinghamshire with Bob where she worked as a GP. His career then took them to the Middle East and New Jersey where we visited on several occasions. The family returned to the UK sometime in the 90s and Anne resumed her career, this time in Public Health, which she pursued with her usual enthusiasm. She was still working when she became unwell. An Astrocytoma was diagnosed and no treatment was possible. I visited her once during her illness although she was resistant to being seen while ill. I was glad I had been able to say my farewells.

Tribute submitted by Kay Sutherland 6/1/11

Anne and I met each other on Day 1 at Gilmourhill. We were standing in the queue for lunch at the old QM and realised we were both in 1st year Med - I think we were proudly wearing our scarves. Anne was from Wishaw and I was from Irvine - neither place was a hotbed of future doctors and we knew no-one else doing Medicine. Since I was "SU" and she was "TO" we were destined to be in the same groups for everything including sharing a body for Anatomy dissection. We became firm friends and shared lots of good times together.

As a teenager she had been an extremely good competitive swimmer coached by her Dad and in 2nd year, with great patience, she taught me to swim. In 3rd year she invited me to stay overnight in her flat near Gibsons Street and go with her and her flatmates - all girls from Wishaw - to the Saturday night dance at the QM. There I spent a lot of the evening dancing with another classmate , Peter Richards, who walked me back to the flat after - the beginning of a very long association!

When Anne and Gillian Ryrie worked for the summer in Massachusetts I was working for Pfizers in Conneticut. We rendezvou'd via Greyhound bus near Boston. I was "elected" to be the driver of an enormous Impala car equipped with automatic transmission and power brakes which we had decided to rent for the day. My driving lessons in Saltcoats had not prepared me for that. We had to get the attendant to show me how it worked and have 5 or 6 practise drives around the rental lot before we set off for the Freeway - all sitting together on the front bench seat ready for anything.

Later we shared a flat in Dowanside Rd just off Byres Rd - we shared a tiny room but managed to coexist in harmony (no luxuries such as a room of your own or a frig or a TV). After the Final Year Dinner we had rows of bodies in sleeping bags stretched out on our living room floor and I think we were able to offer everyone our famous buttered toast in the morning.

As Gillian says, Anne moved a lot with her husband and children and we were in Western Canada but we were able to keep in touch and meet up now and then. I was very saddened to hear of her brain tumour and rapid death.