TRIBUTES were paid today to the chairman of several major York organisations who has died, aged 71.

Robin Guthrie, of Acomb Road, York, was the chairman of the York Museums Trust, of the York St John University governors and of the York-based charity Jessie’s Fund.

He was also a Trustee of the Thalidomide Trust UK, and a former Chief Charity Commissioner for England and Wales, a former director of the Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust and a former director of Economic and Social Affairs at the Council of Europe.

His widow, Sally, said he died suddenly in hospital on Easter Sunday.

Mr Guthrie left three children Andrew, Clare and Tom, and seven grandchildren. Mrs Guthrie said the funeral will take place at York Minster, at 1.30 pm on Friday, May 1, and everyone would be welcome. The service will be followed by private cremation.

She said: “He will be hugely missed by his family as a loving husband, father and grandfather,” she said.

Janet Barnes, chief executive of the Museums Trust, which runs the Yorkshire Museum, Castle Museum and York Art Gallery, said Mr Guthrie had spent considerable time and energies in setting up the trust in 2002 on behalf of the City Council.

“His vast experience of charities and how they operate at their best meant that York Museums Trust couldn’t have had a more propitious start as a new organisation,” she said. “The thoroughness of the process and Robin’s kindness and encouragement of the staff and fellow trustees has made it a very enjoyable and productive seven years. His generosity and his wide knowledge of the arts and charity sectors will be greatly missed by the trust.”

Lesley Schatzberger, of Jessie’s Fund, which helps seriously ill and disabled children to communicate by using music, said Mr Guthrie, perhaps inspired by his love of music, offered his services to the fund some 12 years ago when it was in its infancy.

“Since then, and under his chairmanship, we have become established as a leader in our specific field. Robin played a big part in our growth into a professional organisation and his style and commitment will be hard to replace.”

Delma Tomlin, director of the National Centre for Early Music, said Mr Guthrie had been the inaugural chairman of the York Early Music Foundation, which went on to create the centre from the ruins of the redundant church of St Margaret’s, in Walmgate. She said: “Throughout the process of drawing down the Lottery monies and the creation of the centre, he remained calm, kind and considerate – despite all possible setbacks. He was a friend and we will greatly miss him.”