Some people look at charity as a means of assuaging conscience in the face of social injustice. For Tony Thornton it was a sign that something was profoundly wrong when people were forced to rely on charity rather than being able to count on justice. A former national president of the St Vincent de Paul Society, Thornton believed society was failing people who are pushed to the margins.

More than that, that we actually make things worse for them with policies that punish them for being poor. Thornton, who has died aged 78, was not afraid to roll up his sleeves and throw himself into the work that needed to be done to address injustices. He felt deeply the pain inflicted on First Peoples, asylum-seekers, single mothers, the unemployed, people with a disability, the homeless, the low-paid and anyone else who was struggling. As a member of St Vincent de Paul, he regularly visited people to give material assistance and was moved, and educated by, their stories of struggle and pain.

All of this might make him sound like an angry prophet, and in some ways he did follow the prophetic vocation of the likes of Isaiah who railed against the politics of cruelty: "Woe betide those who enact unjust laws and draft oppressive legislation, depriving the poor of justice, robbing the weakest of my people of their rights, plundering the widow and despoiling the fatherless!" (10:1-3)

However, his anger against injustice was part of something generous and expansive, as in the formulation by Augustine of Hippo: "Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage: anger at the way things are and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are." Such was his anger. It was always coupled with courage and in the service of hope.

Thornton was born in Shanghai. His parents were English, his father directing a large technical training college. Thornton always spoke with pride about his father's bravery in choosing to stay with his students while Shanghai was besieged and then taken over by the Japanese military administration. He had a collection of memorabilia from this time, including a letter ordering his father's imprisonment. There was also a newspaper clipping from the Straits Times picturing baby Anthony as a refugee as he and his mother were evacuated to safety.

Thornton and his mother found their way to Australia where they waited to be reunited with his father following the end of the war. Growing up in Balgowlah, Blayney, Moruya, Woodford in the Blue Mountains, and Wollongong, Thorton joined the RAAF at the age of 15 as a junior trainee, retiring 24 years later as a squadron leader. He served in the equipment branch, saw service overseas and was awarded an MBE in 1970 for service to the RAAF.

It was in his early years in the air force that he won the heart of Aileen Murphy, a young woman from Wollongong who was to become his wife, his closest friend and confidante, and chief combatant in a glorious battle of wits. On one occasion during their long-distance courtship while he was stationed in Laverton in Victoria he wrote to Aileen declaring "for two pins I'd come home this weekend." Aileen immediately sent him a envelope containing nothing but two pins, and sure enough he hitchhiked from Laverton to Wollongong to see her!

Following his time in the RAAF Thornton worked at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex then in the Commonwealth Public Service. During 1982 he joined the St Vincent de Paul Society as a conference member but had to leave after a few months because of work commitments. In 1994 he started working in the not-for-profit field as a volunteer. Initially he started with the Victims of Crime Assistance League , and with Vinnies in the Diocese of Canberra-Goulburn. He stayed with VOCAL as their treasurer and office administrator on a part-time basis for four years. During this time he also worked with the society in the Curtin Centre.

From this point on the St Vincent de Paul Society became his full-time cause. He was put in charge of the Vinnies centres in the Canberra-Goulburn Archdiocese then became president of the Archdiocesan Council, overseeing the council's independence within the Vinnies Federation. He was appointed national secretary before being elected national president in 2011.

His vision exceeded the bounds of the context he worked in. Once, when asked in a public gathering whether he thought there should be more charities and more support for charities, he shocked his audience by saying that he actually thought there should be less! And that our long-term aim should not be to strengthen charities but rather to change society so that people wouldn't need to rely on charities! Which is why, despite being someone who believed that his beloved Vinnies existed for the people rather than the prelates, he felt a strong affinity with the pronouncements of Pope Francis who, just before Tony died, and to his great delight, said: "Let us not be afraid to say it: we want change, real change, structural change."

Anthony Thornton is survived by his wife, Aileen, his children Mary, Peter, Philip, Kathryn, Michael, and Damien, 17 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Dr John Falzon is the chief executive of the St Vincent de Paul Society National Council of Australia.