McMullan Suddenly, on October 1, Ronald (Ronnie) Gerald
Patrick McMullan, MBE, FPSNI, director of pharmaceutical services for Northern
Ireland’s Central Services Agency. Mr McMullan was known to many pharmacists
in Britain through his attendance at every British Pharmaceutical Conference
from 1976 onward, including the 2000 conference in Birmingham.
His career spanned community, hospital and administrative pharmacy. He became
director of the CSA’s pharmaceutical services section (equivalent to the
Prescription Pricing Authority in England) in 1975.
Mr McMullan was made a fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland
in 1984 and was elected to the society’s council in 1986. He subsequently
chaired most of the council’s committees and at the time of his death was
the society’s treasurer and chairman of the finance and house committee.
In 1999 he was awarded the MBE for his services to pharmacy.
Yeeles On September 22, Michael Gaelen Yeeles, MRPharmS, of 30 Hayward
Road, Oxford OX2 8LW. Mr Yeeles registered in 1955.
Mr BRYAN WINSLEY and Mr IAN SIMPSON write: Pharmacists throughout Oxfordshire
were shocked to learn of the sudden death of Mike Yeeles, and we are saddened
by the loss of a valued colleague and a good friend, whose company we have enjoyed
for many years.
Mike Yeeles studied at Chelsea college of pharmacy in the 1950s, commuting daily
from his home in Essex. While a student, he visited Croatia on a student exchange,
which was the start of a happy, lifelong connection with that country, as he
eventually married into a Croatian family.
In his early career as a pharmaceutical representative with Allen & Hanburys,
his talkative and engaging personality must have been a great asset. In the
1960s, he moved to Oxford, purchased the established community pharmacy business
of Cousins Thomas & Co, and made the city his home thereafter. The tragic
early death of his first wife in the 1970s catalysed a career change and he
joined Oxfordshire area health authority, initially on a part-time basis, but
subsequently as a senior hospital pharmacist, where his experience in management
and medicines procurement was invaluable. Soon after this, he married Mira,
a medical practitioner, also from Croatia. During the 1980s, Mike returned to
community practice with W. K. Westlake Ltd, becoming pharmacy superintendent
and staying until his retirement a few years ago.
As a young proprietor pharmacist, Mike was elected to the Oxford chemist contractors’
committee, and we are told that his quick wit introduced an unaccustomed note
of levity, which was not always appreciated by some older members. Later, his
experience in both hospital and community pharmacy made him a valuable member
of the Oxfordshire drugs and therapeutics committee. He was a member of the
committee of the Oxfordshire branch of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society for
20 years, serving as secretary, vice-chairman, chairman and finally treasurer
for a record 13 years, until his death. No meeting was dull when Mike was present,
even if his jokes could not be always minuted! He made good use of his extensive
network of contacts in the Oxford colleges to find excellent venues for our
annual social meetings, the last one being organised with his usual efficiency,
just a few days before his death.
Mike Yeeles was also a very active Rotarian, and was president of Oxford Rotary
Club in 1997-98. He and Mira did much to support humanitarian aid in Croatia,
both on a personal basis and through Rotary. He recently went there with a cheque
from Rotary for an orphanage.
We will miss Mike’s ready repartee, his infectious laugh and his warm commitment
to his profession, his friends and colleagues, and his family. We extend our
deepest sympathy to his widow Mira, and to his daughter Philippa, and son Nicholas.