OBITUARIES

The Very Rev Dr Hugh Wyllie, former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, died on October 31 aged 89.

Dr Wyllie was born in Glasgow and educated at Shawlands Academy and Hutchesons’ Boys’ Grammar School. After a spell with Union Bank of Scotland, and national service in the RAF, he trained as a minister in Glasgow and was licensed in 1962.

He served as assistant minister at Glasgow Cathedral before being called to his first charge, at Coatbridge: Dunbeth in 1965. He subsequently moved to Glasgow: Cathcart South in 1972 and then Hamilton: Old in 1981, where he remained until retirement in 2001.

While at Hamilton he introduced a ‘Dial-a-Fact’ service on drugs and alcohol, and an information centre for unemployed people. He served as Chaplain to the Royal British Legion, the Lanarkshire Burma Star Association, Hamilton Grammar School and Strathclyde Police Q Division and was co-founder of the Hamilton and District Festival of Remembrance.

His service to the central church included spells on the Assembly Stewardship and Budget Committee, Stewardship and Finance Board and the Assembly Council, before he was appointed Moderator of the General Assembly for 1992-3. In his interview as Moderator-Designate, he emphasised that the administrative bodies of the church were there as servants of the congregations, and called for ‘a clearer appreciation of what we believe, and a greater confidence in saying it’.

Dr Wyllie celebrated the 60th anniversary of his ordination in 2022 with a speech to the Presbytery of Forth Valley and Clydesdale.

In a statement after his death, the Presbytery wrote: “Hugh was a wonderfully gracious and supportive minister to parish, congregation and colleagues. He will be missed by all those he ministered to right up until his death.

“Our prayers are with his family, especially with his loving wife Eileen and his daughters, Hazel and Helen.”

Robert Deans Kernohan, who died on October 31 died 92, was a prominent Scottish journalist and broadcaster and one of the longestserving editors of Life and Work, occupying the chair from 1972-90.

Only the second layperson to be editor, he had been encouraged to apply for the job while he was working, happily and successfully, as a freelance journalist. He later described himself as having found ‘an unexpected vocation’.

His time in charge was marked by a fierce insistence on editorial freedom and a determination to represent all shades of opinion among the Church of Scotland’s membership. While his conservative politics occasionally clashed with what he saw as the left-wing drift in the Church’s official positions (and ultimately contributed to his retirement), he said the happiest day of his time as editor was when the Marquess of Ailsa banned Life and Work from his home for ‘leftist bias’.

Born in Mount Vernon, Lanarkshire, in 1931, he studied at Glasgow University and Balliol College, Oxford. Following National Service in the RAF, he worked for the Glasgow Herald for 10 years, including spells as Chief Leader Writer, Assistant Editor and London Editor.

He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament three times before becoming Director-General of the Scottish Conservative Central Office from 1967-71.

In retirement, he served on multiple bodies including the Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland, Broadcasting Standards Council, and HM Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland, and was Honorary President of the Scottish Church Theology Society.

As a broadcaster, among much else he contributed 520 BBC Thoughts for the Day between 1975 and 2019, and represented Scotland on the Round Britain Quiz. He published nine books, including a history of Life and Work marking the magazine’s centenary in 1979.

An elder of Cramond Kirk, RD Kernohan is survived by Margaret, his wife of 67 years, sons Hugh, Ian, Rob and Neil, seven grandchildren and a first great-grandchild born last year. ¤