Richard Neill, who was born in a Dundee tenement and rose to the top of the Canadian aviation industry, has died at the age of 73.
He was vice-chairman of the board of the Magellan Aerospace Corporation and served as president and chief executive.
The Ontario company is a major manufacturer of components for civil and defence aircraft and helicopters, primarily in Canada but also in the United States and the United Kingdom.
He moved to Canada 45 years ago but still has relatives in the Dundee area.
Richard Andrew Neill was born in a flat in Dens Road and the family later moved to a house in Clepington Road. He went to Clepington and Stobswell schools, and as top boy he moved up to Morgan Academy.
He studied engineering at Dundee College of Technology where he received a Higher National Diploma.
The aerospace industry interested him and he worked first with Rolls- Royce in East Kilbride where he was involved in the design and performance of aircraft gas turbines.
He returned to Dundee to work for NCR but in 1968, when the opportunity arose for him to work with Rolls-Royce in Canada, he and wife Marion, a teacher at Clepington Primary, decided to emigrate.
With Rolls-Royce in Montreal he held a number of posts in industrial programmes and was later appointed vice-president (marketing) for repair and overhaul of aircraft engines.
In 1981 he joined GE Canada as programme manager for the aircraft engine group. During this time GE successfully developed main turbines for navy frigates.
The company also secured Air Canada and Canadian Airlines as new customers for Airbus, and established manufacturing facilities at Bromont, Quebec.
In 1987, Mr Neill joined Walbar Canada as general manager of the company engaged in the manufacture of aircraft engine parts in Mississauga, Ontario.
He joined Hawker Siddeley Canada in 1991, becoming vice-president in 1994. On the change of ownership in May 1996, Mr Neill was appointed president and chief operating officer of Orenda Aerospace Corporation, and became president of Magellan Aerospace Corporation in January 1997.
In 2002 he added the title of chief executive officer. In addition to corporate boards, he was made chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada, chairman of the Ontario Aerospace Council and a board member of the SAE Foundation for Canada which promotes science and technology education.
His brother-in-law Matthew Taylor said from his Dundee home that Mr Neill’s expertise led him to make frequent appearances on Canadian television to comment on aviation industry issues.
Survived by wife Marion, four daughters and several grandchildren, his funeral was held in Oakville, Ontario.