Obituary: Michael Walker, timber merchant

Michael Walker, a leading figure in the timber trade and the most generous of men, battled Parkinson’s with great courage. The notice of his death was factual, as he, the most modest of men, would have wished and made no mention of his OBE or of the love and affection in which he was held by his wife and family and by his many friends.

His family’s business, James Walker Ltd, was founded by his great-grandfather, first in Banff, then in Inverness and early in the last century it was relocated in Leith. The Walker family at that time moved south to live in Edinburgh. Like his father, Michael was educated first at the Edinburgh Academy and later at Loretto. After National Service, he learned about the timber trade in Sweden, a country which had a great influence on his life.

He had met Margaretha, who was Swedish, in Scotland, and they were married in Stockholm in October 1961. And it was in Sweden that he was introduced to timber frame housing, which in time was to revolutionise his business and make it one of the most profitable family-owned companies in Scotland.

He had the foresight to appoint and incentivise most competent management and to have Ewan Brown as a wise and experienced non-executive director.

Michael was a well-built and imposing figure. Early in his business career he started to wear a carnation in his lapel. This was not conceit – not an attempt to be the Beau Brummel of the timber trade: rather it was a desire to be remembered by his potential customers.

The ploy succeeded, but Michael will long be remembered for so much more than those carnations. His generosity and thoughtfulness for others were legendary. Annually he arranged skiing holidays in Wengen for family and friends. On one such holiday he discovered that another friend would arrive in Wengen the day the Walkers left. It was typical of Michael that the family found a large vase of flowers in their bedroom and a card wishing them a happy holiday.

Latterly, Michael had given up skiing but still visited Wengen annually, busily organising lunchtime rendezvous and, as always, active in ensuring that all had a good time. It was said that when he ceased to grace the pistes, the runs around Wengen became safer places and he himself claimed that the evidence of avalanches in the area had been much reduced since his retiral.

Nothing gave him more pleasure than to host large lunch gatherings and dinner parties, one about 18 months ago at the Open Arms in Dirleton, where Margaretha had worked on her first visit to Scotland and more recently a large gathering in the spring of this year in Edinburgh. On such occasions, with his love of and skill at words, he would make delightful speeches. This same skill with words was evident in his letter writing, and those who received these would keep them as examples of a dying art.

He regularly booked rows of seats at the front of theatres and invited friends there. A keen angler, he annually leased a stretch of the River Oykel and here again invited friends to join him.

Michael Walker was a leading figure in the timber trade and construction industry. He made a significant contribution to timber research and development.

He held directorships in a variety of companies in the trade and was president of the Timber Trade Association.

He was also chairman of numerous boards and organisations concerned with health and education, such as the Western General Hospital NHS Trust.

He was the honorary consult for Finland. He was Master of the Company of Merchants of the City of Edinburgh and chaired the board of governors of Stewart’s Melville College.

He was a director of the Edinburgh Trustee Saving Bank. For these many commitments to the wider community he was awarded an honorary degree by Napier University.

He was elected a member of the High Constables and Guard of Honour of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and in time became the moderator. This gave him great pleasure in that his father had also held that office and it was by no means automatic that sons would follow fathers in that proud organisation. In his blue constable uniform and tall hat, he was an imposing figure, but many an anxious guest at the palace was reassured by his welcoming smile.

By the time he became moderator, he was suffering from Parkinson’s and there were those who wondered if it was wise for him to undertake the duties of that office. They were wrong. He undertook the duties with dignity and efficiency and presided over the annual dinner at the palace with style and great presence.

Despite deterioration of his health, and spells in hospital, he carried on as chairman of the business and with his many commitments. At the time of his death, he was busy with a history of the company. The first drafts were factual, but lacked anecdotal accounts of those who had served the company.

It is hoped that the history will be completed and what is certain is that when done it will tell of the huge contribution of its recently deceased chairman who, by his vision and competence, transformed a successful timber business into a key and very profitable player in the timber framed housing industry.

For all the above, Michael Walker will be long remembered, but many who know little of his business success, about which he was reluctant to talk, will remember a friend of the greatest generosity and certainly for the great courage he showed in his last years.

To say that Michael Walker was a big man seems over-repetitive, but this, the carnations, the smile, the generosity, all made him a man apart, and a very special one. He is survived by his wife Margaretha, his daughter Amanda and his son Benzie and four grandchildren.