FORMER Yellow Buses director and musician Ian Cunningham died peacefully at Beechwood House following a long illness, on Sunday, March 16, aged 89.

A chartered engineer, Mr Cunningham was born in Scotland and attended Edinburgh University, where he first started singing and later performed in the town’s famous annual festival.

He joined the transport department in Edinburgh as a student apprentice in 1948 after service in REME, and worked as an assistant rolling stock engineer.

After 15 years in the trade he worked his way up to management, and joined Bournemouth Corporation Transport in 1963 as deputy general manager, moving to Southbourne with his family.

Only a year later he took over as general manager, starting on an annual salary of £3,139.

During his years as head of Bournemouth Transport, and eventually managing director of Bournemouth Transport Ltd, Mr Cunningham was a committed defender of the value of a well-funded public transport service.

During the 1980s bus usage diminished as multiple car ownership gradually became more common. One of the ways Mr Cunningham worked to re-integrate the service and the community was through promoting the buses and their routes for charity events.

A cellist and singer besides, Mr Cunningham was a church organist for 14 years, and in 1973 he became the musical director of the 25-strong Raybould Singers, with whom he had been singing as a baritone for five years.

The choir regularly gave performances at care homes for the elderly and disabled.

In 1979 he lent his conducting skills to the Bournemouth Youth Orchestra as they took part in a fundraising marathon play-in.

The year before he had been elected president of the Confederation of British Road Passenger Transport, and had been otherwise a member of the Public Road Transport Association and the Association of Public Passenger Transport.

He was a member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, chairman of the Bournemouth Chamber Music Society and a member of the Bournemouth and District Methodist Men’s Luncheon Club.

Yellow Buses was privatised in 1986, retaining the bulk of its routes and also introducing new services. At the time the new company’s assets were valued at £3million.

Mr Cunningham, by this time living in Magna Road, Bearwood, retired in 1990 at the age of 64, after more than 40 years in the industry.

That year he was made MBE for contributions to community.

He leaves his children, Kenneth and Moira, stepchildren Andrew and Caroline and grandchildren Andrew, Fiona, Graham and Robert.

A funeral service will be held at Victoria Park Methodist Church on Monday at 2pm.