Arthur Scurr was born in the Mount Gravatt area of Brisbane in 1928 attending Mount Gravatt State School. After a number of short careers, he moved into the family business which had begun in 1928 as a blacksmith shop. Arthur Scurr remained a pillar of his local community until his death in 2003. He was active in many community service pursuits including being a Council member for Mount Gravatt College of TAFE, being on the committees that founded the Holland Park and Mount Gravatt Meals on Wheels services, and was the Queensland and Australian Chairman for the Mitre 10 hardware group for over three decades. In 1995, after these many years of service to both the community and business, Griffith University made Arthur Scurr a Doctor of the University.