Obituary: George McArthur OBE, missionary and housing campaigner

Leith man who improved the lives of many people in South Africa and his home city

George McArthur OBE, missionary and housing campaigner.

Born: 22 July, 1930, in Edinburgh.

Died: 2 June, 2011, in Edinburgh, aged 80.

GEORGE McArthur was a man with a mission all his life. Never one to do things by half either personally or professionally, he worked tirelessly with youths in Scotland and South Africa, where he spoke Xhosa and defied apartheid, helped to found Kirk Care Housing Association and in retirement was convener of Edinburgh's Peace and Justice Resource Centre.

Having experienced a whirlwind romance, he enjoyed a partnership of more than 40 years with his wife Margaret who he married after a three-week engagement.

Born in Leith, he was brought up within sight and sound of Easter Road where he and his friends would weed the Hibs pitch on their hands and knees for sixpence. Needless to say, he remained a lifelong supporter of the club.

Educated at Leith Academy, he was immersed in the nearby Lockhart Memorial Church and became an enthusiastic member of the Boys' Brigade.

Aged 18, he was conscripted into the Royal Army Ordnance Corps where he served for 18 months.

Returning home in 1951 he became a full member of the church and was ordained to the eldership in 1956.

McArthur was the president of the Youth Fellowship, ran a large youth club and was also active in the evangelical Tell Scotland movement of the mid-1950s.

In 1955 he offered his services to the then Foreign Mission Committee and, after training at St Colm's College, Edinburgh, he sailed for South Africa in January 1957 to start youth work in the Bantu Presbyterian Church, a church that had evolved from the Church of Scotland's mission there.

Based in Umtata in the Transkei, he was one of the first of a new breed of missionaries who had responded to an invitation from a partner church to serve alongside local people. There he turned his back on the lingering old colonial attitudes and refused to be bound by the harsh apartheid regime.

He introduced the Boys' Brigade to the Bantu Presbyterian Church and while training African men to become officers in the Brigade he slept out in huts and manses five nights a week, returning on a Saturday morning to Umtata.

When he went into a village he could quickly attract a group of youngsters by performing his disappearing coin trick - finding the missing coin behind someone's ear or on the top of their head - and it was his work with young people that helped him greatly in learning the Xhosa language.

As an elder he was expected to take Sunday services and as a colleague he was always hospitable, welcoming those passing through with a meal or a bed for the night.

He was also the only bachelor missionary until, on his second leave, he met and married Margaret Wilson.

The couple met on Boxing Day 1967, were engaged on 1 February and married on the 24th, sailing for South Africa on 1 March. Their two children, Barbara and the late George, were both born in Umtata.

McArthur was involved with Pholela, the African Training and High School then run by the Presbyterian Church, where he was popular with pupils, and imaginative ideas he introduced included the teaching of ballroom dancing to school leavers.

McArthur and his family came to Scotland on leave in 1971 but as they prepared to return to South Africa they were told they would need a visa. It was never granted and they were unable to return.

He then became an assistant secretary in the Church of Scotland's committee on social service with responsibility for List D schools.

In 1972 he was appointed as official correspondent for the schools but during his tenure he approached the general secretary, advising him he was not "stretched" in the job.

He then undertook to investigate the possibility of the church becoming involved in providing and managing sheltered housing for older people. Kirk Care Housing Association was formed in 1973 and he became its first director.

Though not a housing professional he was always encouraging, supportive and enthusiastic and moved in housing circles with great confidence and assurance, comfortable with politicians and officials at all levels. The association received considerable financial support from the government and was able to build many new developments all over Scotland.

He was also instrumental in laying the groundwork for the association's involvement in providing housing and support for frail older people and those with dementia.

He believed in partnership working with other housing associations and other agencies, such as health boards, and the association's long and successful joint working with Bield and Hanover Housing Associations owes much to his early contribution.

During his time at Kirk Care he was appointed to the Council of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and served as its chairman for three years.

He was outstandingly successful in leading the federation which comprises and represents many disparate member associations all across Scotland. Widely respected by the membership, in 1987 he was awarded the OBE for services to housing.

He retired from Kirk Care in 1992 and was immediately asked, by his former minister at Lockhart Memorial, to become involved with Edinburgh's Peace and Justice Centre. He served for 11 years as its convener, treasurer and secretary.

He was also a founding director of the Scottish Churches Housing Agency and its first chairman, serving from 1993 to 2000.

Having settled in Blackhall in the 1970s, he was a member of Blackhall St Columba's Church, had been an elder and leader of the bible class for many years and set up a scheme to train unemployed youngsters in garden maintenance by helping elderly residents with their gardens.

He was also a Presbytery elder and representative on the Granton Waterfront Churches Centre.A man of boundless energy and enthusiasm, great faith and ability, his tangible legacy is the improvement he made to the lives of thousands of people across Edinburgh and Scotland who were once homeless or badly housed.

He is survived by his wife, Margaret, daughter Barbara, son-in-law Kevin and two granddaughters.