A memorial plaque to a much-loved Gatehouse resident has been unveiled in Africa.
The panel honouring Lilian Dent adorns a new school in the Pujehun district of Sierra Leone.
Save the Children put up the plaque in recognition of a bequest in her will for its education work in the country.
Mrs Dent, who died in 2018, spent years in Pujehun with husband Jimmy and taught in local schools.
Jimmy was a tropical farming expert and became Sierra Leone’s director of agriculture.
Lilian’s nephew James Dent said: “My aunt had no wish for fancy memorials. She would have seen a simple plaque in her memory and on a village school wall somewhere in the developing world as the highest of all possible accolades.”
Lilian, a life-long socialist and freethinker, settled in Gatehouse after Sierra Leone gained independence.
She managed the Giftie Gie Us and Lunky Hole gift shops and was a prime mover in the Mill-on-the-Fleet restoration.
Keen WRVS volunteer Lilian received an MBE for her work in the aftermath of the Lockerbie disaster.
She only accepted the award on condition that it was in honour of all those who helped.
The medal is now held at the Lockerbie Museum.
“I share with my aunt her desire to help those born with less advantages to fulfill their full potential.”
