| BGS
Newsletter Online |
| In memoriam Professor John Pathy OBE FRCP (1923 - 2009) |
| Email your comments It is with great sadness that we announce the passing away of Professor M S John Pathy, who died on Wednesday 8 April 2009. Professor Pathy became a member of the board of the Old People’s Welfare Committee for Wales, an early incarnation of Age Concern Cymru, in 1961. Devoting nearly 50 years of service to the charity, Professor Pathy became the President of Age Concern Cymru in 2001. In 2005 Age Concern named their new offices as Ty John Pathy in recognition of his distinguished career in geriatric medicine and his services to older people in Wales. The administrative office of BGS Cymru is now also located in Ty John Pathy. Professor Pathy’s medical education started at the King’s College University of London where he qualified in 1948. He then held a number of posts in dermatology, general medicine, paediatrics, casualty, and infectious diseases at various London hospitals. He moved to Wales in 1951 to become Medical Superintendent at the Llwynypia Hospital in the Rhondda and after a short return to England he returned to Wales in 1960 after turning down an opportunity to become a Consultant Physician at Rugby Hospital, to take up a similar post with the Cardiff Hospital Management Group because he and his wife Norma both preferred to live in the Welsh capital. During his time in Wales, Professor Pathy became the doyen of geriatric medicine inspiring and teaching many of today’s practitioners. He pioneered the close collaboration of the work of health and social services. He championed the establishment of day hospitals and hospital aftercare services for older people and developed a wider role for health visitors. Respected around the world for his work in geriatric medicine, Professor Pathy was the author of numerous papers and was the editor of Principles and Practice of Geriatric Medicine, the essential reference book for those working in geriatric medicine. John Pathy will be remembered by all who knew him as a kind and modest man, a real gentleman, a wonderful teacher, a man passionate about his work and a friend to so many people both young and old. He was one of those rare people who have become a legend in his own lifetime and he will be sorely missed. Michael Phillips BGS Newsletter, March 2009 |