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JOURNAL BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL
BRITISH MEDICAL
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OBITUARY
J TRUETA MA, MD, DSC, FRCS Professor Joseph Trueta, emeritus professor of orthopaedic surgery in the University of Oxford, died on 19 January. He was 79. Joseph Trueta was born in Barcelona on 28 October 1897, the son of Dr Raphael Trueta and the great-grandson of Antony Trueta, surgeon to 47
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of 1795. He studied medicine at Barcelona Uniwar
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working on the juior surgical staff until, 1928,
when he was appointed assistant surgeon. In 1929 he became chief surgeon to the Caja de Provision y Socorro, an organisation treating 40 000 accidents a year, and in 1935 he became chief surgeon to the largest hospital in Catalonia. After three years treating casualties of the Spanish Civil War he came to Britain in 1939 and spent the next 27 years here, establishing a worldwide reputation for his pioneer work on the treatment of wounds. He was appointed surgeon in charge of the accident service at the Radcliffe Infirmary in 1942 and became Nuffield professor of orthopaedic surgery in 1949. In 1966 he retired and within a few months returned to Spain with his family. MHMH writes: Trueta had something especial to offer a Britain steeling herself for the 1939 war: his experience of treating larger numbers of civilians maimed by aerial bombardment in Spain had been shared by very few, but in addition he had put his theories of wound treatment to a stringent test and found them
completely vindicated. Trueta's method depended on wide and thorough excision of the wound, which was then left open and immobilised. The avoidance of dressings, the absence of complicating gas gangrene and tetanus, and the speedy healing were readily evident, and this method became the sheet anchor of the care of war wounds in 1939-45 and later in Korea and Vietnam. It was at Gaythorne R Girdlestone's suggestion that Trueta stayed in Oxford throughout the war caring for battle casualties and training allied surgeons in his techniques. He went on to become Nuffield professor and to create the Orthopaedic Centre at Headington with the beneficence of Lord Nuffield. Girdlestone died soon after Trueta gained the chair, bringing to an end a friendship which had meant much to both men. While in Barcelona Trueta's flair for research had resulted in his philosophy of wound care based on tissue physiology and particularly
on tissue blood supply. That was his central preoccupation: "It's all a question of blood supply," and he was to spend the whole of his life in the pursuit of that central truth. Trueta was essentially a biologist-surgeon, and, recognising no boundaries to interest, he set out to tackle the mysteries of the "living pathology" which he encountered in his wards. In the 1940s he published his concept of the renal circulation in health and disease, which had a wide impact in medical, surgical, obstetric and traumatic conditions. He was always anxious to test ideas in the animal laboratory, and he turned next to the study of long bone circulation and the pathology and treatment of osteomyelitis. As his years in the chair lengthened he delved deeper into the nature of osteogenesis, always preoccupied with the role of the vascular tree. Interest in his work was intense. Visitors came to the department from all over the world to observe and often to work for a time, and he was honoured widely throughout Europe and North and
South America. Throughout the world there are men in chairs and positions of responsibility in orthopaedic surgery who regard the time they spent with JT in Oxford as the major experience of their training.' Trueta was an intellectual and cultural giant, deeply knowledgeable in history, music, art, politics, and people in addition to his surgical research. JT was a gentleman; elegant, courteous, and lavishly endowed with Nature's gifts of vitality and a commanding presence. No one was ever afraid of him. His family life was close and warm, and his wife and three daughters shared in the admiration and affection which the surgical world felt for him. Eighteen months before his death he presided over a Barcelona meeting of his ex-pupils in the Girdlestone Society which honoured Trueta as much as his master. A day of scientific papers, one of which he gave, followed by a trip into the mountains to the monastery of Mont Serrat concluded with a reception and dinner at which JT got up to speak at 1 am. The pupils were exhausted. The chief was bubbling and in scintillating form. He loved it, and they loved him. Amelia, his beloved wife, died shortly before- his final illness, which he fought bravely. He will be deeply missed.
PENUEL G GRANT MB, CHB, DPH
Dr Penuel Grant, fornerly senior hospital medical officer at Bristol Mental Hospital, died on 15 December. She was 77. Penuel Grant Grant was born on 8 January 1899 and graduated in medicine at St Andrews in 1923, taking the diplomain public health the following year. She started her career in psychiatry as junior assistant medical officer in the East Riding Mental Hospital, Beverley. From there she became assistant medical officer in Bailbrook House, Bath, where she served until her appointment to Bristol Mental
Hospital, Fishponds, Bristol, in 1931. In 1948 she became senior hospital medical officer, retaining the post until her retirement in 1959. She will be remembered with gratitude by patients and staff at Glenside Hospital, Bristol. During her long career she devoted herself with invariable kindness and consistent consideration to their treatment and welfare. When the more leisurely pace of the old mental hospital was being overtaken by the bustle of modern psychiatry she maintained high standards of care and ensured that individual dignity was not brushed aside nor overridden by a less considerate approach. In retirement Dr Grant lived quietly and maintained contact with many of her old colleagues. She was unmarried.-DFE.
J H LEES FERGUSON MBE, MA, MB, BCH, FRCS Mr J H Lees Ferguson, senior surgeon to the Middlesex Hospital, died suddenly at his home on 18 January. He was 58. John Howard Lees Ferguson, the third generation of a medical family, was educated at Shrewsbury School. In spite of a classical scholarship and pressure to continue in this field he was determined to study medicine. This he did at and Gonville
Caius College, Cambridge, and at the Middlesex Hospital where he qualified in 1942. The next year he joined the RNVR, serving in the Arctic convoys, the Indian Ocean, the Normandy landings, and in the Mediterranean, where his ship was sunk and he was appointed MBE "for gallantry and great skill in caring for wounded survivors." With characteristic modesty he never referred to the incident, but the daily press described how he took charge of a small boat and rescued 62 men, many of them wounded. On some of these survivors he performed life-saving surgery on board this boat using as an operating table a hatch cover also picked up from the sea. In 1946 he resumed his surgical studies and later became senior registrar at the Middlesex. He was elected to the consultant staff there in 1952, working as a firm with Mr R S Handley until the latter's retirement. He became senior surgeon in 1975. He was also honorary surgeon to St Saviour's Hospital for a short period until it closed and from 1956 served in a similar capacity to St Luke's Nursing Home for the Clergy, where he was chairman of the medical committee for several years. He played an active part in the affairs
390 of the Middlesex, serving as chairman of the medical committee, on the board of governors, as subdean of the medical school, and as a member of the school council. He was an enthusiastic and popular teacher with a dry humour. In later years he became a shrewd and kindly examiner in surgery for the universities of Cambridge and London, where he was a senior examiner, as well as serving on the Court of Examiners of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. As a surgeon he was quick with a deceptive simplicity of technique, attributes which were reflected in the smooth recovery of his patients. This, coupled with the close and sympathetic attention which he gave them, made him much in demand. Outside the main stream of his work he was a loyal supporter of student functions as well as serving as secretary and, in 1973, as president of the Cambridge Medical Graduates Club. An oarsman in his time, a practical handyman, a witty speaker and occasional letter writer to The Times, he was not afraid of being outspoken and sometimes unconventional. He took to bicycling to work long before it again became fashionable, and his common sense also led him to protect himself from the elements in garments more commonly seen on moors or river banks. John Ferguson was a gentleman in the finest sense of the word. Punctilious in his manners and in observing the traditional ethics of the professioh, he gave generously, and not least of his time, to the many charitable functions which accompany hospital life. His consideration for, and many unobtrusive kindnesses to, his juniors, the nursing and lay staff with whom he worked, and not least his patients made him a much loved figure. Yet he remained a shy and reserved man who was not easy to know intimately, even when relaxing at his favourite hobbies of fly-fishing and shooting. The death of his wife after a protracted and distressing illness was a blow from which he never fully recovered. This, together with a period of ill health, led him to withdraw from all but essential duties. Ironically he was just beginning to recover his old sparkling form when he died. He is survived by his mother, his son, and two daughters, one of whom is medically
qualified.-OPD.
G A VALENTINE MB, CHB Dr G A Valentine, formerly in general practice at Long Ashton, near Bristol, died on 8 December. He was 88. Gordon Alexander Valentine was born at Girvan, Ayrshire, the son of a doctor. He studied medicine at Glasgow University and the Western Infirmary, graduating in 1911. Soon afterwards he came to notice when, at some risk in a violent storm, he took medical help to a lighthouse-keeper on Ailsa Craig. He moved to Long Ashton and established himself in practice. At the outbreak of the first world war he joined the RAMC, but was recalled on the petition of his patients and because of the lack of any other doctor locally. Thereafter he continued in active rural general practice in north-east Somerset, later joining forces with Dr R Jackson, of West Town. Dr Valentine was a well-loved practitioner
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among the farming community. As a small boy I remember many distant and sometimes exciting house calls made in all sorts of weather conditions to almost inaccessible farms. He was particularly interested in domiciliary obstetrics. He and his wife Janie, who died some five years ago, had two great interests: gardening and collecting antiques. His garden at Long Ashton was quite a showplace, and he accumulated a superb collection of antique furniture and Staffordshire pottery figures. Dr Valentine retired in 1948. He is survived by two sons, both of whom are
doctors.-GHV.
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his life. He is survived by his wife, a son and daughter.
R L BENISON MA, MB, BCHIR, FRCS
Mr R L Benison, consultant surgeon to the Wolverhampton group of hospitals, died on 14 December. He was 68. Ronald Ludlow Benison was born on 22 November 1908 and was educated at Cambridge and St Bartholomew's Hospital, where he qualified in 1934.
JFR writes: The death of Ronald Benison cast a shadow of sorrow over all his friends and colleagues of the J G JONES Wolverhampton MC, MS, FRCS group of hospitals. Mr J G Jones, consulting surgeon to King Benison went to Edward VII Hospital, Windsor, died on 27 Wolverhampton in 1946 after a December. He was 85. James Gaymer Jones was born at Upper distinguished record of academic Norwood on 26 August 1891, the son of a achievement to be doctor. He was followed by active educated at Lonwar service with don University and Guy's Hosthe First Army. For a hair-raising pital, where he account of surgery qualified with the under fire we Conjoint diploma in 1916. During would often tempt the first world war him into describing his experiences on the he served in the Anzio beachhead. He was a big man in every RAMC in Meso- sense. His great girth dominated the operating potamia and Pal- theatre and seemed strangely at odds with his estine. With the gentle technique and almost infallible gift for rank of captain, performing the right operation bearing all he. was medical human and clinical implications so much in officer to a brigade mind. His private life was remarkable in the of field artillery, and was awarded the Military degree of happiness he gave to his family and Cross in the field for conspicuous gallantry. his friends despite years of wretched ill health. After the war he returned to Guy's and was He seemed to lead a charmed existence, there for six years, becoming senior surgical surviving medical catastrophes which much registrar. He took the FRCS in 1922 and the exercised the ingenuity of his surgical and MS the same year. At Guy's he had the gift anaesthetic colleagues. For many years a of teaching vividly and amusingly and his troublesome arthritis would have tempted a rounds were always popular, as were his lesser man to retreat from the fray. Not so lectures to the nursing staff. He was consulting Ronald Benison. He played golf until he could surgeon to Edenbridge War Memorial Hospital no longer hold a club or walk the distance with from 1924 to 1926. That year he was appointed knees which had finally succumbed to the surgeon at King Edward VII Hospital at insults they received in the Barts first rugby Windsor, and he remained there for 30 years. team. He perservered in braving the seas at his At Windsor he was a magistrate from 1937 beloved Abersoch in preposterously small until 1956 and chairman of the bench from boats which, like their owner, seemed immune to the disasters we all believed inevitable. His 1952 until the end of 1955. final adventure was to choose massive heart NCT writes: In addition to his appointment surgery rather than a lingering death from at Windsor J Gaymer Jones worked as a heart failure. Even this looked like being consulting surgeon in no fewer than eight of successful when the end suddenly came. His home was a place of utter repose and the surrounding hospitals. His main interests were in abdominal surgery and gastroenter- hospitality presided over by his wife Eileen, ology, and his publications included an early herself a doctor and mother of their five description of hyperinsulinism due to an islet children. Three of them have followed their adenoma of the pancreas. parents into medicine. I was lucky to serve as He was most helpful and friendly to sur- his anaesthetist for nearly 30 years. His death geons from London hospitals who were fills me with great sorrow, which is shared by evacuated to work in Windsor during the us all. second world war, always happy to invite them to play tennis, but above all he is remembered as a quiet, calm. and most able abdominal B G DAIN surgeon. He was a fine teacher to the younger BA, MRCS, LRCP surgeons who had the good fortune to help Dr B G Dam, who was in general practice at and observe him. He was an excellent host and most helpful Aco*cks Green, Birmingham, for 41 years, died in planning programmes for meetings of the on 2 September. He was 74. Basil Guy Dain was born at Bournbrook, Medical Society, and generous in his help towards the societies. He retired to Hurstpier- Birmingham, on 7 November 1901, the elder point, Sussex, where he spent the latter years of son of Sir Guy Dain. Educated at Uppingham
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and Cambridge, he qualified in 1927. After various resident jobs at Birmingham, and in particular in orthopaedics and at Epsom, he did a number of assistantships with general practitioners. He then went into partnership at Aco*cks Green, and after the death of his senior partner continued in the practice alone until he retired in 1975. During the first world war, while still at school, he rode dispatches on a motor-cycle for the First Southern Hospital at Birmingham. During the second world war he was medical officer with his local ARP. He also at that time adapted his particular interest in pig keeping by running a pig club and organising the collection of waste food for pigs. At the end of the war he was on the Warwickshire panel committee. He toook an active interest in local medical politics and was chairman of the Warwickshire local medical committee for 21 years and vice-chairman for the next three. For 22 years he was vice-chairman of the Warwickshire and Solihull executive council and served on other committees connected with the NHS. He was also principal medical officer for Bakelite Ltd. Basil was very much a friend to his patients, and will be missed for his kindness and great humour. He married Veronica Price in 1932. She died in 1969 and he is survived by three sons and a daughter. -PEV-D.
B BOCZAROW MED DIP WARSAW, FRCPATH
Boczarow, formerly consultant pathologist to the Dewsbury district hospitals, died at Cape Town on 12 November. He was 67. Borys Boczarow was born at Lukow, Poland, in 1909 and studied medicine at Warsaw University, where he qualified in 1936. His main interest was pathology, and his first appointment was as bacteriologist at Gdynia, Poland. In 1939 he took the diploma in colonial medicine at the University of Aix-Marseille and in 1957 the diploma in clinical pathology at the University of London. In 1963 he became a member of the Royal College of Pathologists and in 1974 FRCPath. He was consultant pathologist to the Dewsbury district hospitals from 1963 to 1974, when he retired. Before going to Dewsbury he was registrar in pathology at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham; later senior registrar in pathology at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury, and then at Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford. During the second world war he served in the medical corps of the Polish Army in the Middle East, Italy, and England. He was deported from Poland to Russia in 1939 and spent two years in a labour camp in Siberia, where the dreadful conditions left a permanent effect on his physical health. Dr Boczarow was highly respected by all his hospital colleagues and never spared himself in the performance of his duties. He was a member of the BMA from his first arrival in Britain, took an active part in its activities, and was president of the Dewsbury Division in 1973. Despite his retirement, at the time of his death he was working as a consultant pathologist at Tygerborg Hospital, University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town. The medical Dr
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profession has lost a dedicated and unselfish member who will be missed by all his friends and former colleagues. A bachelor, he leaves a brother in Poland.-BJS. GFG writes: Those of us in general practice in the Dewsbury district were quick to note the extraordinary trouble Dr Boczarow was prepared to take in order to help us in our requests from the pathological department and to give us an insight into his wide knowledge of the subject and of medicine generally. Not for him the cold, computerised printout: a personal discussion on the telephone would suggest tactfully what further tests or examinations might help to throw light on our patient's clinical condition. We had indeed good reason to admire and respect this quiet and rather shy colleague-an example to us all of the manners and courtesies of a bygone era.
B B ROSE MB, CHB Dr Bertram Rose, formerly in general practice at Norwich, died on 27 December. He was 72. Bertram Bernard Rose was born at Glasgow on 28 February 1904 and graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in 1927. He worked for a time in Glasgow Royal Infirmary as a casualty officer and then did various house jobs in North Ormesby Hospital, Middlesbrough. After a five-year spell as an assistant in a general practice at Morpeth he went to Norwich in 1935 as a partner and built up a large practice, with which he coped singlehanded when his partner emigrated before the second world war. He had an enormous capacity for work and was esteemed by his colleagues and patients. He also had innumerable hobbies, from golf to bridge, from music to bowls. He was a life member of St John Ambulance Brigade because of his work with the Norwich Lads' Club; a founder member of the Norfolk and Norwich Bridge Club; doctor to Eastern Counties Newspapers; doctor to Norwich Speedway until this was abandoned; a past chairman of the former Norwich Division of the BMA; and an active Freemason. His most outstanding characteristics were his unfailing kindness and irrepressible sense of humour. In 1968 it was discovered that he suffered from an incurable and ultimately fatal illness. He courageously ignored his illness and led a perfectly normal life, continuing to practise medicine until the end of 1973, going on holidays abroad, and developing new hobbies. He was spared long enough to see four grandchildren born, which gave him great pleasure and fulfilment. Dr Rose is survived by his wife, son, and daughter.-EL.
J H GARNETT MRCS, LRCP
Dr J H Garnett, who was in general practice at Huddersfield, Yorkshire, died on 7 November. He was 69. John Harold Garnett was born at Orrell, near Bootle in Lancashire. He was educated at Hulme Grammar School, Manchester
University, and the London Hospital, qualifying in 1935. After a period in general practice he served in the Royal Navy from 1940 to 1945, attaining the rank of surgeon lieutenantcommander in the RNVR. Afterwards he returned to Huddersfield, where he practised until his retirement in 1974. Perhaps because of his upbringing in his father's vicarage, John Garnett had a strongly developed sense of public service. Elected to Huddersfield Borough Council in 1959, he soon became chairman of the health committee. He continued in office, combining arduous civic duties with his practice commitments, until 1974. In 1967 he was elected alderman and in 1972-3 he served as deputy mayor. In addition he was for some years secretary of the local medical committee, member of Huddersfield NHS executive council, and one-time president of Huddersfield Medical Society. A quiet and unassuming person, John Garnett was an avid reader and keen gardener. He loved libraries, good talk, and sound politics, being conservative by temperament and inclination. He will be remembered as a staunch friend and an example of devotion and unselfish service. Dr Garnett is survived by his wife, one son, and three daughters, one of whom is a local inspector in environmental health.-SLHS.
J B McKINNEY OBE, MB, BCH, BAO, MFCM, DPH
Dr J B McKinney, formerly county medical officer of health, County Down, died suddenly on 20 December. He was 69. James Brown McKinney was born at Ballymena, County Antrim, on 27 September 1907. He was educated at Ballymena Academy and Queen's University, Belfast, where he graduated with honours in 1931. After house appointments he spent some years in general practice before entering the public health service in England, where he held appointments in the West Riding of Yorkshire at Morley and Spenborough. On the setting up of the NHS he returned to Ulster in 1947 to become first county medical officer of health to County Down, and was instrumental in establishing the new divisional structure of community health services under the County Health Committee. His devotion to the concept of preventive medicine was the driving force in his career, and his enthusiasm inspired his staff to high levels of attainment. He was for many years the Northern Ireland representative on the BMA Public Health Committee and a member of council of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. He was appointed OBE in 1962. After his retirement in 1973 he served as a member of the Eastern Health and Social Services Board. His wide experience proved of value to the work of the board and of the committees on which he served so conscientiously until his death. By his staff and colleagues James McKinney will long be remembered as a true guide, philosopher, and friend. He bore his long and progressive rheumatic disability with great fortitude. He will be much missed, most of all by his wife Barbara, with whom he shared such a happy married life.-JMcAT.
