Anna Di Mascio (15 May 1937 - 30 Sep 2020)

In loving memory of Anna Di Mascio who peacefully passed away at home on 30th September 2020

Anna was born just prior to WW2 in 1937 being the first of 4 siblings to Bill and Anne ( the Angel) Ward with her sisters Eileen ( Nina) and Sally and brother Johnny. This was the start of a loving childhood with Anna helping to bring up her sisters and brothers as she was that little bit older. It was also the foundation of arranging things.
Anna went to work as a dental nurse eventually working with Alec at his dental practice on Crow Road, Partick. A while later romance blossomed and they got married in 1964 living in a lovely house in Jordanhill. This was a magic time with sons Kirk and Gary developing from young boys through to teenagers.
The house was full of music and great cooking. Anna passed on her great culinary skills to the Boys teaching them to prepare fantastic meals such that Kirk and Gary often had restaurant evenings with various ‘ guests’. Kirk was often bribed with attending mass that would be followed by the best ever knickerbocker glory! Kirk never succumbed that such a bribe!
The household was made even livelier with the addition of 2 poodles Mitsy and Chico. A cat also joined the household, Charlie, but was soon out of favour with Alec as it managed to attack
( fatally) the canary. Alec had to be restrained from ending the cat’s first life! The now deceased canary was from Mallorca and brought back hidden under Kirk’s jumper on the plane after one of many holidays in Puerto Pollensa ( P P). This was THE place to go and to be seen to go to! Often the family would manage to visit twice a year with many hot summer days being spent in front of Katie’s Bar on the Pine Walk. Needless to say Katie did a roaring trade whilst Anna and Alec were there and they had a massive core of friends. Another story often told by Anna was when they met up with a German tourist at the bar ( Scottish / German post war, Clydebank bombing not great combination) and Alec had an argument where upon the not so welcome German pulled a gun but was removed from by Alec very rapidly.
If they were not staying at the Sis Pins Hotel then they would be given a villa by the now very close family friend Katie. One time was spent in Bob’s Pensione at the base of the hills with the sheep bells ringing regularly every morning and evening as the shepherd hearded them in and out. Sadly, this Pensione closed due to the disappearance of Senior Bob. He was the most amicable of folk as they can be sadly coming from Edinburgh. Alec commented “ he had money problems and took the short route to Alcudia across the bay”. His body never was recovered so Alec’s postulation could never be proven that upon attempting to swim from outside Katie’s Bat in P P to Alcudia he never quite made it! The holidays were centred round some elongated visits to various restaurants in P P as at the time it was not the huge tourist draw that it is now.
Back home in Eastcote Avenue life was quite different as by this time Alec and Anna were becoming involved with the Glasgow celebratory scene. They became great friends to many celebrities such as Bill Tennant , Calum Kennedy, Billy Connolly , Johnny Beattie, Alexander Brothers and this was in addition to close friends gathered at the Rock in Hillhead and the rugby clubs at Anniesland and Hillhead.
Entertaining was a prominent part of life in the Young household this often took the form of an impromptu party which rarely was on a Monday night but seemed to occur at any other night. These often ran over until the early hours of the following day. Anna was a brilliant musician and her piano playing was to behold. The nights were centred round Anna playing on the piano with various artists joining in and contributing to an amazing sensory experience for the boys who lay in bed feeling the vibrations as their beds moved to the beat of Anna on the piano!
The Kennedy Family were close friends and everyone was shocked with the death of Anne Kennedy. Calum and his 5 daughters carried on with the Glasgow equivalent of the Von Trapp family. Whilst on their residency at the Kings Theatre Glasgow Anna would often participate in their repertoire by shouting for various songs from Callum and his Girls. Much to the embarrassment of Kirk and Gary.
Anna had a “ presence” which was abundantly clear to all. Her presence, beauty and grace lit up so many rooms to so many people!
The Young Family would often visit another real character in Aunt Chrisie up in Furnace by Inveraray. She was a grand old lady and made the whole family most welcome in part due to the

gift of a case of gin from Anna and Alec. Whilst on the shores of Loch Fyne the family could be seen driving around it in one of Alec’s Jaguars and enjoying the local hotels. A memorable meal was had by all at the Cregans Inn, Strachur. Whilst Anna and Alec were having their customary brandy and coffee the boys took to the loch on a small rowing boat. The gentle row to the middle of the loch was followed shortly afterwards by a rather hurried row back to the shores of the loch. A shoal of mackerel was mistaken for the movements of a basking shark.
Back in Glasgow, Anna and Alec became customers of one of the first Indian restaurants in Glasgow the Shish Mahal on Gibson Street. Ali, the owner, became another good friend with many a tasty take away curry being made for a Young family Sunday dinner consumed closely by the fire watching Roman and Martin’s Laugh-in! Anna was a big fan of Ali’s fantastic cuisine but did perspire profusely even with the mildest of chicken korma!
In Eastcote Avenue the family had such wonderful friends close by such as the McPhersons, Armstrongs and many others. All very close by and provided such a tight friendly community. Benny Armstrong became a great source for Anna’s ever expanding wardrobe. He had a furriers shop on Dumbarton Road. This property would have been fire bombed in today’s animal rights society but Anna did have a wardrobe full of deceased skinned cats!
Clothes and Anna always went together so well this is possibly be down to her natural beauty and ability to “ carry anything “ off so well.
Amongst their closest friends were Milly and Hugo Campbell. They were often seen together at many a function and in particular dental ones. Hugo was a consultant facial maxillary surgeon. One particular dinner dance did not end well. Whilst at the taxi rank Hugo got into a war of words with a fellow taxi ranker which ended with Hugo ( ex semi pro boxer) landing a perfect upper cut on the unlucky offender who ended up on the other side of a wall. The Sunday after the night before commenced with Alex being summoned to help out Hugo at the Southern General with the case of a patient requiring some jaw splinting as it had been badly fractured the night previously. Needless to say that both dentists retired before their patient woke up from the anaesthetic!
Anna was a big support during the early days of the illness that haunted Gary for his whole life. He had severe infections on both kidneys that required extensive stays in hospital and long doses of steroids in an effort to stem the damage to his kidneys. His resilience shown through and his ability to bounce back in the eyes of adversity was an example to us all. This was also an amazing attribute of Anna through her life.
There was an occasion when Anna took her beloved MG Magnette for a spin in the newly opened Clyde Tunnel which did not end well. Particularly so for the MG Magnette! But Anna recovered to fight another day and was determined to get back on the road after her brief spell in hospital.
Kirk went off to the University of Dundee and some how managed to weasel his way into studying dentistry. This could be in part to coming from a ‘ good’ school in Glasgow Academy , having a dentist as a dad , living in Jordanhill or just being VERY lucky! He did not please Anna and Alec as in his first academic year he did not cover himself in glory. A 9% in physics was not the lowest point as unsurprisingly he failed physics but did pass the resit and as the saying goes the rest was / is history!
Tragedy struck Anna in Easter 1974 when fire roared through the family home in Eastcote Avenue taking the lives of Alec and Gary. Kirk had been dropped off that day in Dundee for the start of a new term.
The house was destroyed as was Anna’s life. She was homeless until she bought/rented a number of properties. This was a turbulent time for Anna who struggled with many demons in particular the horror of that night / early morning. The smell and memories were to last for the rest of her life.
Anna moved over to the south side of Glasgow and bought a large first floor apartment on Nithsdale Road. She was lucky enough to have her younger sister Nina and her family Lynn and Martin to stay with her. This was a steadying influence in many ways giving her some structure and basis to her life.

Also, Anna’s love for clothes saw her buy a small boutique clothes shop just along the road. Sadly this venture was not to last too long as most of her profits were eaten up with taking home more clothes for herself than actually selling! Still, her wardrobe was becoming increasingly impressive and large!
At this juncture in her life Anna started to move into the Italian Glasgow family circle and met Romano. He was from a small town called Barga moving over to Glasgow opening what was a star of the Glasgow culinary scene the Colonial Restaurant. Anna and he got on very well and shared their passion of good company good food and great chat. Romano had a nice wee motor boat on Loch Lomand often taking Anna, Nina , Lynn and Martin onto the Loch after a slap up meal at the Duck Bay Marina. Alsol entering into Anna’s life was Sheena whom was by now romantically linked with and to Kirk. So, the “ extended family” often set sail ( ok motor) after a splendid lunch that Romano insisted upon paying for onto the high seas of the loch. A couple of times the restaurant at Inchmurrin was visited as Romano’s son Peter was a chief on the small island restaurant.
Anna was by now picking up some work with STV as she still had connections with many celebrities in and around Glasgow. She made an extremely good tv hostess with her welcoming guests onto a number of shows prior to their appearances on camera. Many a star was put at their ease with her talent of being so incredibly good at one to one skills. She became very good friends to Chic Murray who possibly associated himself to Anna. He certainly found her great company with her warmth, loving nature and humour.
By this time Anna had moved back over to the Better Side of the River and bought a great luxury flat on Clevedon Road. There was an occasion when Chic had been visiting Anna and she introduced him to Kirk and Gordon, a great uni friend. It was not until a short time later that Gordon highlighted to Kirk who the guest was. He was one of the greatest Scottish comedians ever! But Anna was like that with having no aires or graces everyone was equal. Nobody was any better. Ok some were a lot worse! She managed to separate to some extent her 2 lives of family and friends and her celebrity friends with often not mixing the 2.
Kirk qualified ( some how!) as a dentist and moved down to Doncaster with his Yorkshire Lass.
Anna met Romi Di Mascio the future rock of her life. He loved her to the moon and back providing her with what she had been missing since Alec and Gary died that being a purpose in life, a stable home and a really nice honest man as well as a family home on Whittinghame Drive. The wedding was a success apart from the official photographer as he was a disaster. The worst wedding photographer ever! Despite having 2 cameras and a flash he managed to produce no wedding day photos. So retakes were taken in the hallway with bride and groom looking splendid. Kirk was never asked again to be the official and only photographer!
Anna became very friendly with her neighbours across the road a famous couple, Ricki and Kate Fulton. It was quite interesting as their paths had crossed way back in Puerto Pollensa with them both being patrons of Katie’s Bar and Ricki’s signed photo adorning a wall of the bar. Other visitors to the newly booming Di Mascio household were Jack and Mary Lee Milroy.
Romi had married Anna with possibly only being slightly aware of her fame and love of entertaining!
Over many years Anna brought her friends and family to her “ new “ home and introduced them to Romi or rather Romi was inducted into Anna and Her Life full of love, friendship and laughs. Not to mention bigs hugs with big red lipstick!
Meanwhile down south Kirk in Yorkshire and his Yorkshire Lass, Sheena, had married with a very sweet wee flower girl at the wedding in the form of Lynn as she had managed to survive the Loch Lomond outings on Romano’s boat. But that was the past and things move on...
Over a short time Kirk had expanded his family with the addition of 3 daughters Kirsteen, Alexandra and Lorna. All of whom loved their VERY glamorous Granny!! Often getting dressed up with flamboyant outfits and bright red lipstick!

The girls had taken up running as a hobby with Granny visiting and insisting upon a viewing of their running prowess at a cross country event! Sheena did insist that the Melania Trump high heels shoes were not ideal for a typical wet soggy cross country Yorkshire course and a rapid purchase of some stylish ( of course ) wellies was made!!
The Di Mascio household was now complimented with the addition of her “ 2 Boys” Touri and Mickey!! 2 of the most well groomed and trained poodles one has ever set sight on! Romi was kept on his toes with the 2 never to mention by Anna as well!! Touri was a hyper intelligent dog which more than compensated for poor Mickey!! But both had the life of Riley!
Other visitors included the friendly foxes which were so well fed that they had to join Foxes Weight Watchers after a few months.
Over the years Romi’s visits to the Western Baths was closely followed by fish and chips from Dumbarton Road!! When the grand kids visited this became one of their highlights always accompanied by the other national drink of Scotland. Romi’s BBQ’s was another highlight often having to retreat to the garage upon the arrival of the usual West Coast weather front!
Romi and Anna had many years of holidaying abroad with him becoming a true star of karaoke. They loved the time share! Anna was picking up on her modelling career with her close friend Kitty Lamont ( nee Beattie) resulting in bit parts of Scottish tv shows. A brief view of Anna on an exercise bike in a Taggart episode showed her true athletic prowess. The director must have spotted her at the cross country race.
She moved onto what would be in many eyes her ultimate accolade of the major role in a most successful play.
Anna suffered another tragic loss when her much loved Romi passed away after a short illness. This deprived her of a true rock in her life but she picked herself up once again and moved to Ascot Gate. She made her new home a remarkable one. It reflected Anna all the way through and appeared that she had managed the impossible by decanting the contents of Whittinghame Drive into her new apartment.
Anna over the years was never held back by her ailing health. Time and time again as she was hit with another health hurdle which she overcame with her true grit and determination. This was so powerful that over many years we were all amazed by it!
Here was a proud , strong, beautiful lady on her own that ALWAYS was welcoming, loving , positive , optimistic and so so strong that she NEVER moaned about being dealt a bad card.
Laterally Anna became increasingly housebound and then bed bound. She became registered blind and was in constant pain. She fell a number of times but bounced back. Never complaining and always proclaiming how lucky that was to have such a loving family that she could feel their warmth flowing through her. Even a severe hip fracture was no hurdle and we were all made too aware of her dislike of hospitals and how obstinate she could be at times. Discharging herself from hospital became a running theme!
COVID-19 was a challenge and threat to Anna as it has been to us all. She was truly frightened of this blind threat as she loved life with every breath that she took. As days / weeks / months rolled by her new Best Friend Susan, living in the apartment above her, made Anna feel part of her home. She cooked for her, checked upon her needs and relieved her loneliness with midnight chats and Aaron’s movement around the flat above reassured her that she was not alone. Susan’s 1am lemon drizzle cake was a joy to behold and enjoy with her fish and chip evenings being resumed but to a Wednesday night with the arrival of the fish van!
Anna was in ever increasing pain which at times became unbearable. One cannot imagine the pain that she went through. Daily or twice daily visits by Lynn were her new lifeline as were those of Nina. Her help from Peter can never be underestimated of which she was most grateful for.

Eventually it was so hard and painful that she struggled to talk with her still abundant close friends and family. She was heart broken with this as it was the final loss in her life of which she had lived for. She could not live without that.
Anna lived her life to the full giving out her love in abundance knowing no bounds. She was a very proud and dignified person that found it most difficult to allow others to see her looking less than perfect. It was distressing for everyone not being able to see her and get that big hug leaving the distinctive red lipstick on their cheeks but she wanted it that way.
We all loved Anna very much. We shall all miss her so much. We were all blessed with her presence but now she is up there with her loved Alec, Gary, Romi , Touri and Mickey. If you listen hard enough you may just hear that piano or organ playing with Anna dressed be splendidly in a stunning outfit, sunglasses on, hair immaculate, bright red lipstick and a glass of wine on hand. Surrounded by a multitude of friends and family.
It was with pride that we live in her memory and with pride that I was her son.