Church set to be full of people paying respects to Iain Soutar

Oct 30 2009 by Johnathon Menzies, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

TODAY’S thanksgiving service in memory of the late Iain Soutar looks set to be packed to the rafters as family and friends unite to pay their respects to the prominent Perth figure.

Mr Soutar, father of Stagecoach founders Brian Soutar and Ann Gloag, passed away late last week at his home on the outskirts of the Fair City, at the age of 92.

The former bus driver and his wife Cathie, who died in 2006, funded their children’s business dream by loaning them the money to set up the successful company in 1980.

The pair used the cash to buy two buses and have progressed to become one of the largest transport operators in the UK – with an estimated value in the region of £500m.

Mr Souter, whose other son David is the minister at Perth’s Kinnoull Parish Church, married Cathy McColl in 1941 and lived in the Perth area until 2005.

The pair spent their latter years with Ms Gloag at Kinfauns Castle.

As well as his children, Mr Soutar leaves behind several much-loved grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The service begins this morning at 10.30am, within the Trinity Church of the Nazarene, on Perth’s York Place.