Gavin Reekie, one of the pioneers of the post-war Scottish agricultural machinery industry, has died at the age of 95.

Born into a farming family at Meikle Kilmundie, Glamis, he followed a path into engineering before taking up a commission in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers from 1940 to 1945, during which time he was mentioned three times in dispatches and awarded the OBE for military services.

In 1946 he founded the G. Reekie Group in Ladybank specialising in sales and distribution in Scotland of the Ferguson tractor.

Before long he had moved the business to Cupar selling not only agricultural tractors and implements but also earthmoving equipment, forklift trucks and motor vehicles. Over the years the business expanded to include depots in Perth and Stirling.

He was a past-president of the Institute of Agricultural Engineers in Scotland and served as a council member of the then Elmwood Agricultural and Technical College.

Mr Reekie was a strong advocate of the Rotary movement and all it stood for. He was elected to the Rotary Club of Cupar in 1950 becoming president in 1958-59 and district governor in 1963-64.

In 1956 he was a member of the first Scottish Rotary curling team to visit Canada and in 1963 founded the International Golfing Fellowship of Rotary to foster a better understanding of the principles of Rotary through golf in different countries around the world.

Mr Reekie maintained an active interest in the development of agriculture, marvelling in the technical progress of machinery from his early days with "the little grey Fergie." He always maintained that supplying equipment was based on the trust of a relationship.

A memorial service will be held in Cupar Parish Church at noon on Wednesday, March 23, to which all friends and family are invited. There will be a collection for Age Concern, Cupar.