In Appreciation of Karen Purves

Karen Purves, publican.
Born: 23 December, 1957 in Edinburgh.
Died 5 May, 2010, in Edinburgh, aged 52.

Karen Purves, the longest-serving publican in Queensferry and the Royal Burgh's greatest champion, began her early life in the exotic climes of West Africa.

It was a highly-charged start for the youngster who was particularly inquisitive and questioning; traits that continued throughout her life.

Karen turned up in Freetown, Sierra Leone, because of the work of her family. But she made the place her own and returned to Edinburgh with images and experiences forever etched on her memory.

It was in Freetown where she began to hone her lifelong values of decency, fair play, tolerance and her love of geography and travel. The civil war in Sierra Leone forced the family to return to Scotland in 1967.

They turned to the bar trade, operating a number of pubs across the capital; another key development in shaping her future career.

Not that she went straight into running her own hotel. That would have been far too simple for Karen, a woman of style and overflowing with energy, enthusiasm and simply bursting with joie de vivre. 

So, her career unsurprisingly ranged from creating and operating Luckies video store in Leith to driving a bus. 

You would never be in her company long before she made you laugh. That could be with a barely suppressed snigger, quite possibly brought on by something you yourself said that she thought was daft or pompous.

 Or she would make an observation that could floor you in its nonsensical surrealism. 

Karen could paint a picture with a few words and would laugh herself silly by winding people up. And how she was loved for it; a character in herself, continually sharing with family, friends and strangers. Good people never remained a stranger long around Karen Purves.

A fully-qualified people person and lifelong member of the non-politically correct club - on reflection, she perhaps founded it - Karen would speak with pinpoint accuracy of their character, be it good or not quite so good. She was a kind and gracious and a truly feminine girl.

Karen knew the Ferry like no other, and a star has gone out with her passing, leaving the community robbed of one of its greatest champions and supporters ever to grace the High Street.

And what a day it was way back in 1985 when Karen arrived to take over the Stag and stood proud in that street. In fact, she'd arrived to the manage the place for a week for her family whilst they were on holiday. 

As in all classic love stories, she came, she saw, she stayed; and countless people in the community and further afield have benefited tremendously from Karen's big heart. Some know, many don't, for she never sought recognition of her good deeds. 

She would howl with laughter at being called "a good deeds doer". Then, wiping a tear of joy from her cheek, she would simply say "stop it now". Which only produced more laughter all round.

The Taylor family that ran the Stag Head Hotel before Karen remain good friends today. Their help as she took over was nothing short of heroic. A two-hour crash course into how to run a pub introduced Karen to the Ferry folk.

It was a learning experience, not least marked by her first night when she never rang the bell and the customers just kept on drinking. It is best to note that never happened again.

She shaped the Stag Head Hotel into what she wanted it to be. There was a proud history of the place as a naval pub. Karen had a vision to carry it forward to become more family-friendly, to embrace what she saw as community.

And with her staff - who became close friends of Karen - and with her customers - who also became friends - Karen would champion community through fundraisers in the Stag. 

A part of her legacy is the Stag as a people pub, for people across the generations, who're finding their loss painful. There have been enough tears in the Ferry these past days to demand a rainbow, bright and colourful, shining over the sudden dim on the High Street.

Poor health took Karen away from the bar, but she was at the very centre of business activity through a high-tech operation, managing her team with a gallery of microphones, earpieces and tv monitors.

 She was never slow to act, nor to laugh when someone made a cheesy grin to one of her cameras. She remained the heartbeat of the Stag.

One memory of Karen, from a local businessman was swift: "Karen could always get you to get things done!" 

And get things done she did: for the RNLI; Queensferry Churches Care in the Community; the Rotary; the Ferry Fair; Queensferry at Christmas; Jubilee FM; and countless other individuals and groups.

With all this constant giving to others, friends feared she never gave enough care and attention to herself. She would wave you away with a hand, or some cheeky gesture, but would never do that to the love she found in her partner, Karen Bray.

 They met nine years ago online and when they met offline, Karen Bray shone a light into the life of Karen Purves. They loved and adored each other and perhaps it was never expressed better than the love and care Karen Bray brought to her partner over the years as her health collapsed.

Despite that poor health, Karen remained "always on the ball, as bright as a button," said Ms Bray.

 "It really frustrated her being unable to do things by herself, becoming immobile. But she was sharp as a tack and ran this place to the end.

"I am very proud of my Karen and I always will be."

Karen Purves, who died of acute myocardial ischemia, is survived by Karen Bray, her father John, sister Jackie and brother Cameron.

Written by Charles Fletcher