‘To say he’ll be sorely missed is an understatement’; tributes paid to Inverness businessman
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THERE was a big turnout today to celebrate the life of local businessman and sportsman Alistair Norrie, who enjoyed a “life well lived,” according to his family.
Mr Norrie (68) died suddenly and unexpectedly after taking ill while getting ready for a Rotary curling match in Perth on November 20.
His shocked team-mates found him lying in the dressing room and efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
Mr Norrie was a quantity surveyor with KLM Partnership in Inverness for many years before joining cdmm (UK) Ltd in 2013 as a health and safety consultant, at a time when they had just lost their then managing director Arthur Murray.
Neil MacRae, owner of cdmm, said: “We couldn’t have asked for a bigger character to fill that void. I’d known Alistair for the previous 24 years when he practised as a quantity surveyor, but it was his skill to deliver health and safety advice that attracted me to him.
“He was professional, commercially astute, very hard working and had the social skill to deliver a service which could be very boring, with great humour. This gift allowed him to get his message across and made him a favourite with our clients. This has been backed up by the number of heartfelt messages we have received since his death.
“He lived life to the full and always had a very full social calendar, and we will miss his Monday morning stories. He was chairman of the Association for Project Safety locally, which made us all very proud.
“To say he will be sorely missed here is an understatement.
“It has been said to me this week that life goes on, which it will, but it’s certainly going to be less entertaining.”
An Arbroath FC fan, Mr Norrie used his love of running, cycling and football to help raise thousands of pounds for good causes, and he was a veteran of 20 Highland Cross duathlons.
He was a stalwart of Inverness Business Fives Group, a group of businessmen who played five-a-side football every Thursday evening for 35 years and is behind the Sneckie Insomnia Soccer Overnight Fives Festival, which has raised more than £40,000 for children’s hospice charity CHAS in the past two years.
CHAS’s Ruathy Donald said: “I am working with the group on another Sneckie Soccer in January, and I shall miss the infectious enthusiasm and limitless ideas Alistair brought both to the event and in fundraising for CHAS.”
Mr Norrie is survived by his wife Mary, daughters Elizabeth and Louise and four grandchildren.
His funeral took place today at John Fraser and Son in Chapel Street. Donations to CHAS were invited.
