Antoine NICOLAS - a friend indeed, our loss

Totally gutted this morning when I answered the phone just minutes before leaving to come into the hospital.  It was our friend, Francoise calling from L'Is;e Sur la Sorgue, France,  (Penicuik's Twin Town) to let me know that Antoine had sadly passed away last night.

We have been friends for about thirty years since we first met in Penicuik, and then for the following years met  many times either in France or here in Scotland.  When they came here it was my excuse to visit parts of the country we had never been to, and we even all ended up in Dublin one year on a coach trip.

I have nothing but the fondest of memories from this relationship, a true gentleman, a ferroniere, an excellent businessman and a friend indeed who will be so sadly missed by all who knew him. 

He and Francoise were surrogate parents to RGB who they took into their home as a youngster and taught him French the hard way,  no English,  and when I retired from the Police in 1996 had me for a week chilling by the pool, drinking wine and studying from a beautiful French dictionary which they presented to me.

Unfortunately, in my current situation we will not be able to attend the funeral service and can only send genuine heart felt condolences to Francoise and the family.