Family, friends and colleagues of former Oxford Mail editor Jim McClure gathered in Wallingford yesterday for his funeral.

Mr McClure, who lived in the town, died last month aged 66 from respiratory failure following a long period of illness.

Mourners, led by his wife Lorly, and children James, Alistair and Kirsten, packed into St Mary le More Church to hear tributes to the man described by fellow writer Olov Svedelid as a "timeless genius".

Mr McClure came to this country in 1966 from South Africa and went on to edit both The Oxford Times and the Oxford Mail. He was also an award-winning author of crime novels and two factual books on the police, as well as a cartoonist, photographer, raconteur and artist.

Addressing the congregation, Alistair said his father "never did anything half-heartedly", and recalled how he had been determined to finish constructing a garden trellis for Lorly the day before he was admitted to hospital for the final time.

Peter Unsworth, his friend of 39 years and a former assistant editor of the Oxford Mail, said Mr McClure's "obsession for accuracy and demand for high standards" ensured that respect for The Oxford Times was maintained when he became the paper's editor in 1994, and that he would take a story and "tweak it here and there to turn the piece into a masterpiece".

Mr Unsworth added: "I would not be true to young Jim's memory were I to paint a picture of a paragon of all virtues. He could fly off the handle at a second's notice and could slam a door with the best of them. But he had qualities that made these outbursts seem insignificant and forgivable.

"Most important was his ability to say sorry. Too many people see climbing down as a weakness. In Jim it was a strength."

Fellow crime writer and journalist Duncan Campbell, who first met Mr McClure in South Africa in the early 1960s when they were teachers, said: "He was a terrific storyteller, both on the page and in person. Equally important, he was a wonderful listener, whether you were a lonely boy in an art class, a young journalist starting out on a career, or a motorcycle cop in San Diego.

"He was a keen observer of the world around him and that made him a great photographer and cartoonist.

"Honesty, wit and compassion were the three particular characteristics that always struck me about Jim."

Hymns included Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise, and Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, while Mr McClure's South African roots were reflected by The Lord's Prayer, from the African Sanctus.

A musical epilogue from Shakespeare's The Tempest, written by Mr McClure's daughter Kirsten, was played at the end of the service. It was followed by burial at Wallingford Cemetery.