Marri, and long-time treasurer Jessie MacFarlane, who also retired, were thanked by their fellow councillors with flowers. 'It was lovely and unexpected,' Marri said.
Marri came to Oban 49 years ago from Dumbarton with her husband Ian, and now have six grandchildren and eight great grandchildren, with another one due in April.
'I think I have added plenty to Oban,' she said. 'I have done my bit for the community.'
Marri served as a director of the Co-op and Argyll Community Housing Association (ACHA) for a dozen or so years, where she learned the skill of chairing meetings.
'As chair you need to be neutral. You have to keep a tight rein,' she said.
When the last Oban Community Council chairperson stood down, 'stupidly, I put my name down,' she joked. 'We were down to four people. I asked if everyone could bring one person. We managed to get five. We started from there. Every year we asked someone else. In the end, we had 20.
'I am most proud of bringing it up to a working majority. I was warned if we did not have enough members, we would not have a community council. I am proud of all the community councillors. We work well together. I feel the chair is the person who has to ensure that continues.'
Marri is stepping down, she explained, because recently Ian was diagnosed with cancer and has started treatment. 'I am going to be tied up at the Beatson in Dumbarton,' she said. 'I felt when he was diagnosed, I had to give up because I could not put enough into work as I should do. He did not want me to give up. I do not want to let people down.
'I could not get anyone else to take the chair. Last week Frank Roberts said he had been asked to stand. Frank is feeling his way and I will help him. I said: "You will need to tie me to my chair!"
'I will still be on the community council as a community councillor. I have asked to retain the common good fund because I enjoy that. I am on the parent council for the high school. I help run the Soroba committee. I have enough on my plate.
'My dream for the community council is more people joining and more members of the public attending the meetings. It is up to us as a community council to get out to the public. We have done a lot for the community. Maybe we do not say enough about that. We are there for the local community, but they are not on board with us. We need to get more people involved.
'Oban is a lovely town, but you cannot sit back. It has to be brought into the modern era. It cannot be left in the doldrums. It is a working town. We cannot just say it is beautiful. The town will die otherwise.'
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