As a baby, Isobel Shivas was lulled to sleep by her mother singing the song, Marquita, so she was known as Quita’for the rest of her days.
Born in Aberdeen in 1925, she was the youngest of the two children of accountant Andrew Shivas and his wife, Blanche.
School days were spent at Aberdeen High School for Girls and then Aberdeen University where she studied medicine.
University days were among the happiest times of Quita’s life and many a train trip was taken to compete at athletics meetings against other Scottish universities.
A gifted sprinter and hurdler, Quita specialised in the 60m, 80m hurdles and 100yds, but also ran 200/220yd events.
An athletics blue, she was vice-president of the university athletic association from 1949 till 1950 and women’s captain of the Scottish University Athletic Union in 1949.
She took silver in the 200yds at the World Student Games Paris in 1947 and a gold in the 100yds and bronze in the 80m Hurdles at the World Student Games in Luxemburg in 1951.
In 1950, Quita became British 60m champion at White City in London and it was to London that she moved after graduating the following year.
She joined Spartan Ladies whilst working at Hammersmith Hospital and, in 1952, realised an ambition with selection for the Helsinki Olympics.
In Helsinki, Quita took third spot in her 100m heat – the winner, Shirley Strickland, of Australia, went on to take the bronze medal in the final.
Quita retired from athletics after the Olympics to concentrate on her medical career and in 1956 qualified as an anaesthetist.
She met Stuart Barber in Edinburgh in 1960 and the couple married in Kings College, Aberdeen, three years later, settling in Edinburgh’s Fairmile Avenue.
Daughter Judith was born in 1964 and the family moved to Newstead in 1965, when Stuart took a forestry post in the Borders.
Quita found herself balancing home life with part-time work as a doctor in local hospitals and lecturing on anaesthetics.
Retirement saw her following interests in music, sport, driving and she was a familiar face in coffee shops around Melrose.
Quita, who played piano and, occasionally, the xylophone, was a great supporter of Galashiels Opera and the Wynd Theatre and loved the Borders Big Band.
She retained her interest in athletics and played golf locally for several years.
Quita was last in her beloved Aberdeen four years ago, revisiting the university and the Kings College playing fields were she enjoyed so many sporting triumphs.
And even at 83, she was still able to get down on her marks for the 100yds.
In her last few weeks, Quita was wonderfully cared for by staff at the Margaret Kerr Unit, and remained concerned for family and friends to the very end.
She died on March 18, aged 87, and is survived by Stuart, Judith and son-in-law Alan, and was a much-loved aunt, great-aunt and cousin.