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bility, though by the time he retired he felt that the ideal of pri- mary medicine being run by medical profes- sionals had not been attained, and that the old bureaucrats had re- tained control.
ohn worked very hard at his new and important responsi-
mative to his patients, clearly explaining what their problem was, some- times even drawing dia- grams. He did not resort to placebos, nor did he fob anyone off with a packet of pills. He always looked at the whole human being, treated everyone with re- spect, and so gained their trust and respect in return. The Upminster area must be teeming with people whom John brought into the world, and there must like- wise be a legion of those who owe their lives to his intervention in some critical illness to which he had been urgently called. Your pre- sent writer is proud to be- long to this latter body of people. John was also a leading light in Inservice Training for his fellow pro- fessionals. A superb diag- nostician, he drew on his vast experience to show his colleagues unusual phe- nomena they might come across. Your writer is again proud to have been the guinea pig in one such pres- entation. John’s leisure pursuits
ohn was the kind of general practitioner who was frank and infor-
gave ample expression to his international beliefs. A marksman of the highest standing, he represented England in many interna- tional shooting contests, in- cluding the Olympic Games of 1972 in Munich and 1976 in Montreal. But even these elevated encounters could not curb his sense of hu- mour. In Munich, for exam-
Stewarding with Tony Barber
ple, an earnest young guide informed him that each fir- ing position was equipped with closed circuit televi- sion. John immediately asked whether it was colour television. “Oh no” said the guide. “Our budget didn’t allow that.” “Too bad”, said John with a straight face. “In England we only watch colour TV.” I have also often wondered whether the KGB colonel whom John befriended in the USSR team appreciated having a girlie magazine smuggled into his luggage as he negotiated Soviet Cus- toms. One hopes he had lots of clout with the Soviet authorities.
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Tourcoing contact, arrang- ing exchange visits for the four children of his first marriage with the children of Jean van Oost, a commit- ted Catholic in the French Club. Furthermore, to- gether with the Parish Priest of St Mary’s Hornchurch, Monsignor Dan Shanahan, John ran the Kieni Project, taking measles vaccine to an area of Kenya where mea- sles was endemic, causing the deaths of countless chil- dren who had no immunity from it. He outcome of this project was to eradicate measles in this region of Kenya and so to save many young lives. Sadly, these contacts with their religious backgrounds came to an
uring his early days in Rotary John was a keen supporter of the
end with the breakdown of John’s first marriage to Marion. Undeterred, John
Not content with having ar- ticles published in local newspapers, he set up a su- perb exhibition of photos and artefacts in Roomes Stores situated, as John put it, “between the knickers and the corsets”. Serving as President in the Rotary Year 1978 to 1979, John rounded off a superb Rotary career by being Editor of the Bull from 1984 to 1997, relin- quishing this responsibility only when the burden of his directorship in the Havering Primary Care Trust de- manded it. Sheelagh appeared in
transferred his energies to Vocational Service, carrying out an investiga- tion into the effects of stress on the lives of those in management posts. Later he was twenty years before his time in mounting a pro- ject to publicise Rotary achievements in our area.
John’s life in 1976, and their children Jennifer and Jona- thon came along soon after- wards. Sadly, the three older children of his first marriage remained es- tranged to the end, but John was extremely pleased and moved when David, the youngest of the four, be- came reconciled a few years ago.
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time for people and always had time for Rotary. Except for the final two years or so of his life, he was a very regular attender at luncheon meetings, and rarely missed a Club function. For all those years John was an in- tegral, indeed an essential part of Hornchurch Rotary life. Our lives will be much the poorer without him.
ohn Anthony worked un- sparingly as a doctor in our area, yet always had
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