Mrs Margarita (Margot) Ana Hardie passed away at Beechhill Care Home last Saturday.

Mrs Hardie's father, Andrew Ewart, was a son of a local farming family near Kirriemuir who had settled in Argentina after working in various countries and having travelled in various wilderness areas of the Amazon in Brazil.

Andrew became a valuator and journalist in Argentina, Margot's mother Anna having moved to the South American country from south of Bordeaux in France.

Margot was brought up mainly speaking French at home but also become fluent in English and Spanish and had an understanding of Portuguese.

After her parents died while she was quite young, Margot, who had two brothers, Peter and William, travelled to the UK by ship in 1938, to stay on Rosewell Farm near Kirriemuir with an aunt.

After the outbreak of World War Two, brother William became one of the Anglo Argentinians who volunteered to serve with the British armed forces. He was reported missing in action and later presumed dead on August 16, 1943.

Margot met her husband John, a solicitor in Forfar, and they married in June 1946 in the then West Church.

After a short spell in the Glengate area of Kirriemuir, the Hardies settled back in Forfar, where Margot was to remain until her death last week.

That is, with the exception of her travels.

The couple made a return trip to Argentina with the family in 1960 - quite an adventure for the young children as the trip by sea took three weeks each way!

But the next trip Margot and husband John made in 1976 was even more adventurous - for the couple flew to Buenos Aires and straight into the height of a military coup!

Martial law had been imposed, troops were patrolling the streets and, during the night, John watched as military transportation took tanks and armoured vehicles to the battle zones as government troops fought rebels.

It was an eventful three weeks negotiating check points, having learned that a police station they attended to produce identity papers was subsequently attacked and blown up by rebel forces.

The Hardies made enquiries about a further visit to Argentina in 1982 - but had to cancel due to the Falklands War.

However, it didn't put them off their travels and their numerous sojourns into Europe included a Mediterranean cruise.

Margot's husband passed away in December 1994, and thereafter she continued to live in Forfar with son William.

Her interests included gardening and cooking for visitors. She was also very well read, and had novels in Spanish and French.

Margot is survived by three of a family, William, a solicitor in Forfar, John, a solicitor in Edinburgh and Anne, a PE and guidance teacher at Forfar Academy. There are also three grandchildren, Marie, Julia and Andrew.