Jean L'Amie:JEAN L'AMIE, who has died at 103, was the oldest resident of Strabane, Co Tyrone and one of its best-known - founder of its first public library, charity worker, traveller and practitioner of yoga.
She was the personification of the doughty daughter of the manse.
Her father, the Rev Edward Clarke, was Presbyterian minister in Strabane for over 40 years, and served as the church's moderator in 1930. Her mother, Jane (née Kinghan) was also a daughter of the manse.
As daughter of the town's minister, she had a relatively privileged upbringing. But she knew tragedy. The first World War left her an only child. Her two brothers, John and Tom, both died during the conflict. John was killed when serving in France with the newly formed Royal Air Force. Tom drowned while swimming in India. "I was the spoilt wee girl," she said.
After education at home, L'Amie went to boarding school in Edinburgh, then Edinburgh University, where she graduated with an MA in Moral Philosophy.
A while after returning to Strabane, she married bank manager Gerald L'Amie. They had two children, John and Ann.
In the 1940s she decided to bring literature to Strabane, and the former urban council employed her as librarian. Initially, the library was small. "Because we didn't have many books at the start, we had to make sure that the books were back on time, and because there was petrol rationing during the War we couldn't afford to use a car," she said.
"So I cycled round Strabane to pick up the books."
Tragedy struck again. Gerald died of leukaemia, and she and the children returned to live with her elderly parents.
At 60 she reached retirement age from the library service. So she went first to the Isle of Mull, off Scotland, as companion to an elderly couple, and then to similar work on Bermuda.
Back home, she enthusiastically embraced yoga. In her 80s, when she overturned her car, she put herself into a yoga position till she could be rescued. About 10 years later, she gave a memorable yoga exhibition in a Strabane hairdressers. She threw her legs over her head and touched the ground on the far side with her feet.
When over 100, she could still touch her toes.
In 1987 Strabane was hit by devastating floods. She was very active in helping residents of the stricken area with the clean-up operation.
Rev Robert Herron remembers her from his time as minister of Strabane: "When she was there you knew she was there. She saw nothing as beneath her. She would take on any task. When I was in Strabane, she wrote me a wee piece and put it in an envelope, she said 'Open that when I die'. It was a wee address to all the people that helped her in life."
She is survived by her daughter Ann in the US, daughter-in-law Anne in France, and by her grandchildren.
Jean Rachel Dill L'Amie: born 26 April 26th, 1905; died November 3rd, 2008.