ALEC King, who has died aged 80, was a former captain in the merchant navy who went on to become a successful businessman.
He was born in Edinburgh and grew up as the oldest of four children and, much to his disappointment, narrowly missed the chance to serve his country in the Second World War. Instead he settled, at the age of 15, for joining the Merchant Navy.
He travelled the world for many years, gained all his seamanship qualifications and became a captain. It was with this huge expertise, not to mention many lifelong friends and tales of drama on the high seas, that he came ashore in the 1950s to start a family with his wife, Marion.
They married in 1951 and forged a remarkable partnership, which saw the arrival of three sons and the establishment of a caring and happy family home in Helensburgh.
Together, they happily combined his successful career as Glasgow manager of Scottish Widows with family life and King became a mentor not only to his sons but to his colleagues and to the many young men he met as a volunteer navigator on the Sail Training Association schooner Sir Winston Churchill.
King's caring qualities were demonstrated in many other ways - he was active in church life, helped many people in their deepest need as a volunteer with the Samaritans and Iona Community, and nurtured his family as grandchildren started to arrive.
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