Tributes after long-serving councillor dies aged 79
Betty was first elected in 1999 and was Provost of East Renfrewshire Council from 2003 to 2007.
She received an OBE from the Queen in the New Year's Honours List of 2011 for services to East Renfrewshire and Malawi. She had first travelled to the African country in 2007 and set up a charity - the Betty Cunningham International Trust - which built a health clinic and nursery schools.
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Council Leader Owen O'Donnell, who signed the book of condolence at the Council's Eastwood HQ, said: "Betty's passing has left me with a great sense of grief and sorrow which will be shared by the wider Labour family, council staff and colleagues, the many lives she touched in Barrhead and East Renfrewshire and much further afield in her beloved Malawi. This all still feels so raw and a time of personal grieving. We will have time in the days and weeks ahead to more fully celebrate her life together.
"Social justice and the sense of what is right and wrong was ingrained in Betty's DNA. She was a ferocious fighter for the people of Barrhead and beyond and would leave then Prime Minister Tony Blair and First Minister Jack McConnell trembling in her wake! She had the biggest heart but was also great fun and someone you wanted to spend time with.
"Betty was no prouder than when she received the Lifetime Legend award at the LGIU awards last year. This was a fitting award and well-deserved tribute to mark her career.
"My thoughts and prayers remain with her family at this time who graciously welcomed me into their home so I could say my final goodbyes in the hours before Betty passed away. Betty will remain an inspiration for us all."
Steven Quinn, Chief Executive of East Renfrewshire Council, said: "As a new chief executive spending time with Betty as she took me around Barrhead (or Borrheid as I was often corrected), it was incredible to witness at first hand her passion and dedication for her community and the work she had done to support so many people. Betty was always thinking of others and took a special interest in helping people who were facing challenges in their lives.
"It was a privilege to get to know and work with Betty. Her death is a massive loss to her community and to East Renfrewshire Council. My thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time."
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