An Edinburgh man who spent his working life as a sign-writer on the city's buses has passed away at the age of 74.
Former coach painter John Dickson died suddenly while attending a car rally event on May 26, 2023, his family announced.
Born in Royston, John spent more than 30 years in the paint shop at Shrubhill depot, where he was a sign-writer and coach painter for Edinburgh Corporation Transport, which later became Lothian Regional Transport (now Lothian Buses).
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In the days before digital technology made his job redundant, John became an expert at hand-painting all manner of advertisements, notices, destination displays, numbers and lettering on the city's bus fleet. He retired in 2000 as the last of the capital's traditional bus sign-writers, just as the company rebranded as Lothian Buses.
In his retirement, John, who had two children and five grandchildren with his wife Anne, indulged in his various passions, including photography, studying local history, playing music and collecting transport memorabilia.
John was an avid lover of the history of Edinburgh and Leith, and spent much of the last 10 years contributing to the popular Spirit of Leithers page on Facebook for which he was an admin. He was also heavily-involved in the campaign to set up a dedicated museum for Leith.
John was attending the Jim Clark Rally event in Duns on the last weekend of May when he passed away suddenly. He lost his wife, Anne, who he had been married to for 54 years, last December.
Tributes have been flooding in on social media for John, who has been described as a "true gent with a huge heart" and a "gem of a man".
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Writing on the Spirit of Leithers page, local photographer and tour guide, Paul Cunningham, who was a close friend of John's, said: "Such a loss of a true friend. I’m gonna miss going out on photography jaunts with him, he also helped me a lot as a tour guide few years back.
"He has a lovely family and they been through so much this year already with the passing of Anne. My heart goes out to them.
"Gonna miss him, he was true gent with a huge heart".
FiFi FlowerScot commented: "Johnny was definitely one of a kind. The stories my dad (Eric) would tell me of the days back when they worked in the bus garage.
"But also seeing all the miniature models and the history he would say from photos he had. Will carry on, never forgotten, amazing man."
Steven Oliver added: "Very sorry to hear this. He will be a big miss to The Spirit of Leithers."
Graham Whyte commented on the Lost Edinburgh Facebook page: "John came to our Old Leithers reunited Facebook page reunion in the Dockers Club last year. I've known him for years. He put on a great show and everyone else loved it. He'll be greatly missed."
Gordon Stirling said: "I was fortunate to meet John at Seafield Works in the 1980s, where he performed his magic in the paint shop. He was also a gifted photographer in LRT Camera Club.. An all round gem of a man."
For those wishing to pay their respects, the funeral service for John Dickson is being held at 10am on Saturday, June 17, 2023, at Warriston Crematorium.
John Dickson is survived by his son, John, daughter, Yvonne, and grandchildren, Nicole, Natalie, Kelsie, Keira and Kara.
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