A former Letchworth Heritage Foundation chairman and army veteran has been remembered for his “generosity of heart”.

The funeral for Alan Scouller – also well known for his time as a governor at Stevenage’s John Henry Newman School – was held on Monday, following his death last month at the age of 88. Alan, who lived in Letchworth, had been suffering from a short illness.

Throughout his life, Alan pursued a whirlwind of careers and enjoyed being a family man – taking care of his wife Angela and seven children.

Alan had a career in the army starting in the late 40s, initially joining Royal West Kent Regiment based near Folkestone where he became Private Scouller. After three months of training, he then completed an additional six months training at Eaton Hall to become an officer. By September 1949 he had become a second lieutenant.

In the 1980s Alan became a governor of St Angela’s Catholic School for Girls – where his daughters Frances, Sarah, Helen and Jo attended – two years before he retired from his job at Midland Bank where he worked for 14 years.

He soon became the chair of governors when it was decided the girls school would merge with St Michael’s Catholic School for Boys, taking on the chairman role for the merger committee.

Alan continued his work with what became the John Henry Newman School for many years, and such work brought him to the attention of the Diocese of Westminster – who asked him to help with complex and sensitive issues at the schools under their charge.

The work he did for the Catholic Church in the field of education brought him a papal knighthood in 1996. The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nicholls, praised Alan for having “clarity of thought, generosity of heart and firmness of will.”

In addition to his work with Catholic schools, Alan was on the board of the Heritage Foundation – where he became chairman in 2004 and stayed in the role until 2009.

Dennis Wells, a fellow board member at the Heritage Foundation, told Alan’s family: “He was a significant presence. Fair, positive, and fully in control of what was going on. Alan’s time in the chair was the best period in my 14 years on the board.”

After stepping down from his roles at the Heritage Foundation and John Henry Newman, Alan dedicated his time to looking after his wife Angela who has dementia.

Current Heritage Foundation chairman Colin Chatfield said: “Alan served the Foundation admirably as a governor, trustee and in his role as chairman. We are deeply sorry to hear of his passing.”