Wednesday 23rd May 2018
TRIBUTES were paid to Callum Hosie by friends, family, representatives of Dumbarton football Club and the Sonstrust and others at the DFC director’s funeral in Southport yesterday.
Callum passed away from cancer last Monday.
“He will be missed by everyone connected to the club, and by the large number of people who knew and valued him in his neighbourhood and well beyond,” the Club said in a statement.
Chairman John Steele added: “We are all deeply saddened by Callum’s passing. Everyone connected with the club sends our condolences and warmest wishes to the Hosie family.
“Their association with Dumbarton is long and deep. We appreciate all that Callum did for the football club and his heartfelt wish that we should continue to thrive long into the future.”
Full Obituary: Callum Hosie, 1945-2018.
Callum was born in Dumbarton on 28th April 1945 to Andrew, a welder at Denny’s shipyard and Nettie (nee Hutchinson) who worked in Edwards outfitters on Dumbarton High Street. He grew up at 22 Wallace Street – a long goal kick from Dumbarton Football Club’s Stadium.
He went to Knoxland school but was often in trouble. His mother could often be heard saying “my heart is roasted with that boy”. His dad used to say he should have been a glazier after spending time repairing windows that Callum had smashed playing football in the street.
As a teenager, he loved driving round in his dads ford zephyr and took it as a challenge to see how many of his friends he could get in! Although he had no brothers or sisters, his wider family still stay in the Dumbarton area, cousins Hamish, Colin, Katrina, Moira and Margaret from the Hosie side and Isabel Cantely from his mothers side, the Hutchinson’s
Callum served his apprenticeship at Dewrance in Dumbarton and at the age of 19 was relocated to the new town of Skelmersdale in Lancashire when the Dumbarton factory closed, along with many other Dumbarton men. He rose to Works Director before being made redundant at setting up his own successful valve manufacturing business, HH Valves.
He met his future wife, Pat, in Southport in 1965 and they were married in 1969. Half of Dumbarton descended on Southport for the wedding and Callum was paraded down Lord Street in his underpants! They were together for 53 years, 49 of them married and had two children, Andrew, 45 and Alison, 43. He had one granddaughter, Ella – the apple of his eye.
He loved his football and played to a high standard. His introduction to Dumbarton came as a young boy in the early 1950’s when he attended Dumbarton games at Boghead with his father and grandfather, James Hosie. He was also a Rangers supporter, and had left early on the day of the Ibrox disaster in Jan 1971 having previously been stood close to Stairway 13. On moving to England, he became an Everton season ticket holder for 40 years.
In 2008 he got the opportunity to invest in Dumbarton Football Club and led a consortium who bought the majority shareholding. This followed a long history of Hosie family involvement in the club; his grandfather was an original ‘A’ shareholder and his uncle, John Hosie, was club secretary for many years. He joined his cousin Colin Hosie on the board and formed lasting friendships with Alan Jardine, John Kane and the late Gilbert Lawrie – true Dumbarton FC men. He experienced some great moments, notably the Irn Bru bus through the town when DFC won the Scottish Third Division in 2009. Fortunately, he was too ill to see them relegated last weekend.
Although he lived in England, Callum would never forget his Scottish roots and became famous In England for his packages of square sausage and crusty rolls that he would bring down from John Lang’s and Sloan’s butchers.
He was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in February 2017 and battled hard for 16 months against one of the most deadly forms of cancer, before succumbing on 14th May.
Callum Hosie’s family are raising money for Cancer Research UK and donations can be made at: justgiving.com/callumhosiefoundation.