My father, Mervyn Kohler, who has died aged 74, dedicated his career to bringing about changes in society through his work for charities and in politics.
He was born in Edinburgh to Dorie (nee Footer), an infants’ school teacher, and Frank Kohler, who worked at the London Assurance Company. Mervyn was always very proud of his Scottish roots, despite having moved south, to Croydon, as a child. He attended the Trinity school of John Whitgift in Croydon, before going on to Durham University, where he met Liz Johnson, a fellow student. They married in 1970 and had two children. Liz went on to become a deputy headteacher.
Mervyn started working for Shelter in 1971, coordinating local groups in the East Anglia and Lincolnshire region, but quickly moved on to the Conservative party, developing its approach to race and ethnicity. He was appointed OBE in 1984.
However, he spent most of his working life at Help the Aged, later known as Age UK. He had different roles at the charity, starting as head of public affairs in 1984, but was perhaps best known for his media appearances as external affairs adviser – a role in which he frequently articulated complex policy analysis on radio and TV and in print to help the public understand the human implications of issues such as fuel poverty, pension credit and care needs.
Throughout his career, he served as a trustee for a number of charities, as well as on public bodies such as the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group.
He managed to carve much of his day-to-day working life around issues that fascinated him, and did not want to stop working. He did, however, retire in March 2020. His health deteriorated, and he and Liz found the isolation and confinement that Covid-19 lockdown brought extremely difficult. They had thrived on going to the theatre, concerts and exhibitions in London, as well as travelling to destinations near and far, and those activities became impossible.
After lockdown they resumed travelling together again, visiting my family in France, and their volunteering and other leisure activities, but Mervyn’s mobility had become limited.
Liz died in 2021. Mervyn is survived by his children, Joe and me, his grandchildren, Shay, Amani, Gemma and Elsa, and his sister, Jan.
