Walter Robert Lambert Scragg, a retired president of two Seventh-day Adventist world regions, a former president of Adventist World Radio (AWR), and a former General Conference communication director, died at Lady Davidson Hospital, North Turramurra, NSW, on September 20, aged 84.

Scragg gave 48 years of distinguished service to the Seventh-day Adventist Church mainly as Christian Communicator, and in many leadership and departmental roles around the world.

He attended Avondale College, graduating from the ministerial course in 1945. After completing an arts degree at Adelaide University in 1949, Scragg commenced work as a pastor-evangelist in the Victorian Conference. In 1956 he was appointed as associate speaker for the Australian "Voice of Prophecy" radio program, beginning a career in media and communications work that spanned much of his life. The next year he became director of the Voice of Prophecy, and in 1959 he was appointed as assistant Radio/TV secretary of the Australasian region. In 1965, he was called to be principal of Longburn College, New Zealand in 1965.

In 1966, after 18 months of educational work, he was again called back into the Radio/TV ministry at the General Conference. In his new role, he was responsible for restructuring the Adventist world church Communication department to merge public relations and electronic media in 1973. In 1975, at the General Conference Session in Vienna (Austria), Scragg was elected president of the Northern European region, where he served for eight years. He returned in 1983 to the South Pacific region, where he served as president until 1990.

In 1991, Scragg was called out of retirement to serve as president of Adventist World Radio (AWR). "Walter was president of AWR during its early, formative years, and was instrumental in establishing the organizational structure," said Dowell Chow, AWR president. Chow said Scragg, a former "Voice of Prophecy" speaker in Australia, "was a staunch supporter of and a believer in media, particularly radio media.

He retired for a second time in 1996. The following year, he was asked to serve as a pastor for the newly formed Fox Valley Seventh-day Adventist Community Church. Then in 1999 Walter came out of retirement the last time, returning to Takoma Park, Maryland, as interim pastor of the Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Walter was married to Betty Onion and has three children -- Gregory, Bronwen and Mark.

"He was a man of great stature," said Greg Scott, AWR senior vice president, who worked with Scragg. "He was very well loved and respected by all who knew him."