Raja Manzoor Hussain was born in a small village called Hathia in Pakistan on April 5, 1942.

He came to Oxford alone on October 4, 1964 with only £5 in his pocket.

When he first arrived in the city he lived in Jericho but shortly afterwards came to settle in the Cowley area.

He struggled and worked day and night for long hours.

Then he managed to acquire a shop in Bullingdon Road and ran it as a convenience store.

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Mr Hussain worked hard and kept the shop open for long hours to serve the local community and saved every penny until he had enough money to buy his first shop in Cowley Road, which was called Raja Bros.

This property is now Antep Kitchen restaurant.

Mr Hussain’s son, Vazeem Manzoor, said his father worked tirelessly for the community after arriving in Oxford in 1964.

Mr Manzoor said: “He helped people to communicate with the local council if they were experiencing difficulties and was often the first person people would turn to if they were having trouble.

“He was a community leader and community organiser and would put other people before himself.

“He donated a substantial amount of money towards the construction costs of Manzil Way mosque.

“He used his knowledge and business acumen to help make the project a success.”

In the 1980s, Mr Hussain suffered heart problems and for a number of years returned to Pakistan, following a triple heart bypass.

He later returned to Oxford where he continued to get involved in community projects when he was able to.

In 2007, when Mr Hussain was chairman of the Asian Cultural Centre in East Oxford, he welcomed a project to encourage ethnic minority residents to become council ‘champions’ in a bid to give their communities a voice.

He said at the time that young people needed to engage in council work and older people often found language a barrier.

He added the Asian community sometimes did not speak out until a problem emerged.

Mr Hussain also rented out rooms for extra income and was always very business-minded.

This gave him the opportunity to start buying a number of properties in the local area.

During his time in Cowley he also ran three cinemas for the local Asian community.

One was in Botley and two others were outside Oxford - one in Uxbridge.

He also ran a travel agency business, helping Asian families to visit loved ones back in their countries of origin.

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Raja Hussain had a very good strong family life, thanks to the fact that he married his wife Zaben Nisa.

The couple married in a ceremony in 1968 in Pakistan before returning to Oxford.

They went on to have six children - two sons and four daughters.

They were also lucky enough to have many grandchildren in the family, who they loved dearly.

Mr Hussain died on February 22, aged 78.

He leaves his wife Zaben, son Vaseem, four daughters and 16 grandchildren.