World-renowned engineer and businessman led Christian outreach work in Glasgow
Forbes Pearson Born: June 25, 1931; Died: March 14, 2024
FORBES PEARSON, who has died aged 92, was a world-renowned engineer who was instrumental in setting up Christian outreach activities in the west end of Glasgow.
Born Stephen Forbes Pearson, he was the first child of Stephen H Pearson, an engineer from Northumberland, and Gladys Stewart, from Glasgow. He was born in Pollokshields, Glasgow, and attended school at Paisley Grammar and Kelvinside Academy.
He considered becoming a doctor like his grandfather, Charles Stewart, but instead studied mechanical engineering at Glasgow University, graduating in 1953.
Following graduation Forbes enrolled at the Royal College of Science and Technology in Glasgow to complete a thesis on valve design for reciprocating compressors under the supervision of Dr Jimmy Brown, who remained a friend and colleague for life, working together on a wide range of technical developments in refrigeration.
With his PHD complete, Forbes was appointed scientific officer at the Torry Research Station in Aberdeen and spent three years developing techniques for freezing fish on trawlers to enhance the quality and extend shelf life. This work included time spent in rough seas off the coast of Newfoundland.
In April 1959 he married Jean Lyall and returned to Glasgow, setting up home in Maryhill and joining his father at L Sterne and Co’s Crown Iron Works. As chief engineer for Sterne his work was divided between design of products and design of industrial refrigeration systems.
By 1969 the company had decided to close down the industrial division to focus on the mass market manufacturing of domestic and commercial equipment. Forbes and two of his colleagues, Bert Campbell and Anthony Brown, decided there was plenty of industrial work available in Scotland and set up Star Refrigeration Ltd in 1970.
Star Refrigeration quickly gained a reputation for innovative but robust and reliable engineering, mainly founded on the technical developments led by Forbes in his role as technical director. In the late 1980s the phaseout of CFCS under the Montreal Protocol prompted him to combine his knowledge of organic chemistry with his understanding of how compressors worked to create a range of refrigerant fluids suited to the rigours of extreme temperature operation.
He firmly believed in supporting the wider refrigeration industry and was a regular contributor of technical papers on a range of topics to the Institute of Refrigeration, receiving their Lightfoot medal for the best paper of the year on six occasions. He also chaired the Institute’s Technical Committee for many years, served as president from 1987 to 1988 and was awarded the Institute’s Hallthermotank Gold medal in 1991.
Forbes had a strong Christian faith, first professed as a teenager in the 1940s and nurtured through the Paisley class of the Crusaders Union, where he made lifelong friendships, and Church of Scotland Seaside Mission. He was ordained as an elder in the Church of Scotland, serving in several capacities at Wellington Church in Glasgow’s West End.
He founded and led a Friday night youth club for teenagers from Partick in the Wellington Church crypt and instigated an annual summer mission, Park Week, in Kelvingrove Park, which attracted hundreds of young people from all across the West End.
He also founded and led a new Crusader class, Kelvindale, which met in Kelvindale Primary through the 1970s and organised Saturday morning football, swimming galas, midweek chess matches and occasional visits to watch Scotland at Murrayfield for the Crusader class.
Forbes and Jean moved down the Clyde to Innellan in 2001 when he retired from fulltime work and they became active members of the community through the parish church, the village hall and the sailing club.
His vigorous Christian witness ran in parallel with the establishment and growth of the business of Star Refrigeration through the 1970s. The two worlds were very different but there was a significant overlap. His care for individuals was evident in the business principles adopted in Star as much as in the evangelism promoted in Kelvingrove, on Mugdock Moor or at Murrayfield. He had no difficulty reconciling his scientific understanding with his faith, recognising that science answers the “how” questions but faith addresses the “why”.
Forbes is survived by wife Jean, daughters Muriel and Libby, and sons Stephen, Andy and Dave.