Henry Scott "Harry" McArthur

1920 - 2013  (92 years)

• Name	Henry Scott "Harry" McArthur
  Born	22 Oct 1920	Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Interesting	military, religion
  Military	WW2
  Name	Harry McArthur
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-31283
  Died	25 Jan 2013	Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Person ID	I31283	Generations
  Last Modified	6 Apr 2024

  
  

  Father	Robert McArthur,   b. 13 Mar 1877, Partick, , Lanark, Scotland ,   d. 21 May 1958, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 81 years)
  Mother	Elizabeth Scott,   b. 23 Jul 1880, Glasgow, , Lanark, Scotland ,   d. 1 Mar 1971, Guelph City, Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada  (Age 90 years)
  Family ID	F221874	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Lucille Elizabeth Taylor,   b. 22 Sep 1925, Edmonton, , Alberta, Canada ,   d. 23 Nov 2018, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 93 years)
  Married	1945
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2024
  Family ID	F58663	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  Harry McArthur Image from Waterloo Region Record 23 Feb 2013

  
  

• Notes

  A missionary life devoted to indigenous people in Guatemala Harry McArthur of Cambridge Born: Oct. 22, 1920 in Cambridge Died: Jan. 25, 2013 of age-related illness Christian missionaries working with indigenous people in the 1950s were mostly concerned with saving souls. Harry McArthur, however, had his own ideas, encouraging the Aguacatec people of Guatemala to be autonomous. He created an alphabet and written language for them, then translated the bible. It was a monumental task, but one Harry completed in his usual focused way. In the 54 years he spent working with the Aguacatec people, Harry never sought recognition, never thought himself above anyone else. Harry was born in Hespeler the youngest of four boys, the only one of his siblings not born in Scotland. The son of a plumber, Harry dropped out of school and worked in a funeral home for awhile, then signed on as a medic during the Second World War, a time when he also discovered a gift for languages. Stationed in England for two years before being deployed, Harry learned to speak fluent German and was soon in demand as an interpreter by the army. The war, it turned out, would have a lasting and profound effect on the young man. As he watched the world around him self-destruct, Harry figured out what was important in life, and it had nothing to do with material possessions. He was determined to make a difference in the world, but didn't know how until the day he had an epiphany after reading a biblical passage about going forth and proclaiming the Christian message. Going forth sounded like missionary work, but first, Harry needed an education. The young man had always disliked school, skipping classes nearly every Friday in his youth. Daughter-in-law Victoria McArthur, a teacher, said "he was one smart cookie. I always saw him being a gifted student who was bored." At age 26, Harry left his hometown of Hespeler and headed for bible college in Regina where his brother taught Greek. There, Harry thrived and, as it turned out, he found more than just an education. Edmonton-born Lucille Taylor was quite taken by the young man after spotting him on campus. Though the dean of students discouraged the union (he had another girl in mind for Harry), they were destined to be together. Harry and Lucille married in 1945, but not before a little adventure that would mark their entire lives together. Both had been intrigued when Wycliffe Bible Translators came on campus recruiting new members and, after completing a summer linguistics program, Harry was accepted to Wycliffe, travelling to the organization's Mexican headquarters. When Harry learned his beloved Lucille was also accepted to Wycliffe, he mailed her an engagement ring. Brave little Lucille, who had never travelled further than her college, headed south from Regina on a train bound for the Mexican border where Harry would be waiting, ready to escort her into Mexico and a life she could hardly imagine. After marrying in Mexico, the couple headed to the Chiapas region, a place known as Jungle Camp, where missionaries learned survival techniques and leadership, as well as a local language. The couple arrived in an overloaded, battered old plane flown by an inexperienced pilot who depended on the passengers to direct him to the camp. Jungle Camp was a boot camp for missionaries, a place designed to prepare missionaries for the often-frightening lifestyles they would face. Once their training was complete, the couple was sent on their first mission, a trip that involved travel by mule train along a disused jungle trail, followed by a lot of hard climbing. By April 1950, just as his missionary career was in full swing, Harry developed typhoid fever, malaria and pneumonia and would spend a couple of months bedridden in Mexico City. As he finally began to recover, the couple learned of a tribe in the mountains of Guatemala, in a malaria-free zone. In her memoir, Lucille wrote such a climate was necessary for Harry because "he had the disease so badly that his spleen enlarged and the doctors told us we can't live in a malarial area - or we'll end up back in Canada." After everything they had been through, Harry and Lucille were not about to return home. As they pondered the Guatemalan mission, Lucille gave birth to the first of the couple's four children and soon, they were headed for a mission in a remote area of Mexico where the locals immediately threatened their lives. The next day, Harry and Lucille headed back to home base and made a firm decision to accept the Guatemala posting. It was 1952 and Wycliffe had been invited to Guatemala by three missionary ministries that needed help reaching the country's indigenous population. Over the course of the next five decades, Lucille and Harry lived in strange conditions, often without any means of communication with the outside world. Lucille didn't meet her in-laws in Canada until their first furlough home, after five years of marriage. Harry learned to speak Spanish and the native dialect. He started a school that was run by the natives, people his son, Harry Jr., described as highly intelligent. He said his parents "truly loved the people" and described his dad as humorous and quiet, the kind of man who avoided the spotlight, but was willing to lead. Though the couple planned on retiring in Guatemala, as Harry began exhibiting signs of Alzheimer's, they realized it was time to head home to Hespeler and a world far removed from Guatemala, where they had given so much of themselves. Harry concluded "to me, it was amazing, they did so much." vhill@therecord.com "A Missionary Life Devoted To Indigenous People In Guatemala". 2013. Therecord.Com. https://www.therecord.com//life/2013/02/25/a-missionary-life-devoted-to-indigenous-people-in-guatemala.html.

  
  

• Sources

  [S602] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - The Waterloo Region Record (March 2008- ), A missionary life devoted to indigenous people in Guatemala - 25 Feb 2012.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 22 Oct 1920 - Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 25 Jan 2013 - Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth