'He did it ever so gently...he looked more worried for us than he was for himself,' recalled his eldest son Peter yesterday, of the man best remembered for being a pioneering civil servant who saw to the building of Changi Airport from vision to completion.

As family members grappled with the devastating news, he wasted no time in urging them to get insurance coverage and go for health checks.

'He felt that if it could happen to him, it could happen to any of us,' said Mr Sim, a 52-year-old lawyer.

This was one of several personal stories of his father that he shared with over 300 mourners at a funeral service in Barker Road Methodist Church. Those present included Keppel Corporation executive chairman Lim Chee Onn and Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) chairman Liew Mun Leong.

Following the service, Mr Sim's body was cremated at Mandai Crematorium. He died last Friday from complications from stomach cancer, at age 78.

Mr Sim headed the civil service from 1979 to 1984. He was CAAS chairman as well as executive chairman of Keppel Corporation for 15 years from 1984.

Away from the public eye, the father of five sons was a devoted family man who doted on his five granddaughters. In her eulogy, eldest grandchild Leanne Sim, 24, spoke about their days in Perth when she was a student there.

Mr Sim and his wife Jeanette owned a house in Perth then and she would visit during her vacation. 'I sometimes had friends for sleepovers, and he... was always so interested in their lives.'

She had been looking forward to having her grandfather attend her wedding in January at the Tanah Merah Country Club, of which he was the founding chairman.

He had wanted to help organise the wedding.

It was this spirit of doing that showed his love towards his family, said Mr Peter Sim, who described his father as a man of few words.

Growing up, he recalled, the family would go on frequent trips to Malaysia. On reaching the hotel, his father would unpack all the children's luggage and ensure all their things were in place.

Mr Sim applied this same meticulous attention to detail in his work but remained humble in claiming credit.

Mr Liew, in his eulogy, said Mr Sim turned down his idea last year that he be called Chairman Emeritus of CAAS, saying he felt he was taking too much credit for the success of Changi Airport.

As his son Peter put it: 'Everybody knows what he has done, but his answer to this would be, 'We all have a job to do'. His reward is always the knowledge that the job was well done. He didn't need anything else.'