The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7171 p625-626 27 October 2001

The Society

Obituaries & tributes

Black On 18 August, Jeffrey Black, MRPharmS, of 5A Ringley Drive, Whitefield, Manchester, Lancashire M45 7BX. Mr Black registered in 1967. Freedman On 15 September, Stanley Freedman, MRPharmS, of 51 Lynton Drive, Southport, Merseyside PR8 4QG. Mr Freedman registered in 1965. Hall On 3 August, James Hall, MRPharmS, of Flat 2, Oak Ghyll, Gill Bank Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire LS29 0AU. Mr Hall registered in 1935. Howard On 28 September, Eric Howard, MRPharmS, of 91 St Quivox Road, Prestwick, Ayrshire KA9 1JF. Mr Howard registered in 1939. Keough On 28 June, Jeffrey Keough, MRPharmS, of 9 Valley Road, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire AL8 7DG. Mr Keough registered in 1954. Levy On 4 October, Elizabeth Adrienne Levy, née Harris, c/o Ms P Levy, 30 Elmore Road, Broomhill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Mrs Levy registered in 1954 and retired from the register in 1999. Longworth On 8 October, Derek Longworth, FRPharmS, of "Grasmere", West Street, Selsey, Chichester, West Sussex PO20 9AE. Mr Longworth registered in 1954. Owen On 25 September, Margaret Irene Owen, MRPharmS, of 18 Lime Grove Gardens, Bath, Avon, BA2 4HE. Mrs Owen registered in 1942. Roundell On 29 September, Gordon Roundell, of 9 Surtees Drive, Crossgate Moor, Durham. Mr Roundell registered in 1931 and retired from the register in 1990. Swire On 22 September, Jean Anne Swire, née Roberts, MRPharmS, of Cross House Farm, Lees Lane, Dalton, Wigan, Lancashire WN8 7RE. Mrs Swire registered in 1961.

Tribute Carless In a tribute to the late John Edward Carless (PJ, 22 September, p411), Professor FRANK FISH writes: In 1946, from different provincial schools of pharmacy, John Carless and I passed the same London external BPharm degree examinations. We had not met, and neither of us could have guessed that our separate academic careers would eventually come together at "The Square" in 1978. In the meantime, we did meet occasionally at British Pharmaceutical Conferences and at Society-sponsored teachers' meetings, where John was a regular, respected contributor and a most pleasant companion. However, it was when we worked together in London that I found in him not only a true friend but also a strongly supportive and ever reliable professorial colleague. His wise counsel was sought and his encouragement freely given to staff and students alike. In committee work, both inside and outside the university, his advice was always well considered and sound. John will be much missed but well remembered by many. DON ECKLEY writes: My wife and I were saddened to learn of the sudden death of Professor John Carless. I first met John at Leominster Grammar School, Herefordshire, in 1939. I was a lowly first former and John was one of the "gods" of the sixth form. John became an articled pupil with Boots at its pharmacy in Leominster under the late F. E. Webb, and I followed him there in 1944. Frank Webb was responsible for the early training of several pharmacists — at least five, to my knowledge — and John proved to be the most academically distinguished of us all. I did not have the pleasure of working with John, but my wife did, and she remembers his unfailing kindness and courtesy to her in those difficult wartime days. I do recall meeting him during the time when he was researching for his PhD, and the enthusiasm with which he described to me his work on the partition chromatography of ergot. I was most interested to see that he had retained his interest in photography. He was introduced to this, as I was, by Frank Webb and the members of Leominster Photographic Society, which met regularly at the pharmacy. Our profession has lost a dedicated and most gifted member and Herefordshire an illustrious son. Lowe In a tribute to the late Ian William Shepherd Lowe (PJ, 6 October, p491), PETER MACKENZIE writes: Ian W. S. Lowe was a lifelong friend from the mid-1930s. His parents, like mine, were then resident in Lossiemouth, but he served his apprenticeship in Gloucester under the tutelage of his aunt. She was a senior pharmacist in the hospital service who undoubtedly instilled in him all that was best in that sphere. It was in the autumn of 1940 that Ian and I set out from the railway station of our home town for Aberdeen and Robert Gordon's Technical College (now University). We both regarded this as a great adventure and kept in animated conversation all the way. Ian was an exemplary student who sailed through examinations, both written and practical, and obtained his pharmaceutical chemist qualification. His career in hospital pharmacy, culminating in the position of chief at St Mary's, Paddington, was no surprise to those who knew him. How splendid and perceptive was the tribute by his former colleague in The Journal of 6 October. It was a great joy in the mid-1960s to find ourselves near neighbours in Ruislip and Pinner. This continued for nine years until I had to relocate to Edinburgh, thus effectively curtailing Hogmanay parties, in particular. Ian was the life and soul of these occasions. To his wife Margaret, his three sons and daughter and their families, I would like to extend my sincere sympathy. Lyall In a tribute to the late John Lyall (PJ, 6 October, p491), Dr ROGER GRAYSHAN write: Many former students of Heriot-Watt University's pharmacy department will, we are sure, be saddened by the recent death of John Lyall, known to us all as Jock. My wife Anne remembers Jock first as a lecturer and supervisor and then as a locum pharmacist and family friend. I first met Jock when I joined the pharmacy department as a lecturer in 1972. Jock welcomed me immediately and would do anything to help, both inside and outside the department. His expertise in house building and do-it-yourself was most useful on many occasions, especially tree-felling. As I sit here now composing this tribute on my PowerMac computer, I wonder how many of our ex-students remember Jock's love of his original Macintosh computer and his attempts to teach us all to write programs. Sorry, Jock, I have two computers in my dispensary at work but I admit to being a failure at writing software. However, Jock's work with his Apple computer was invaluable to the department and on judgement day, after the meeting with the external examiners, we used to sit back and wait while Jock's computer churned out all the examination results. When we were informed that the pharmacy department at Heriot-Watt was to close, Jock, who loved his teaching at "the Watt", and who had expected to finish his career there, was devastated. We all fought the unjust decision but lost. Over the next three years, as I regressed from lecturer to student to preregistration student, Jock was a tower of strength. Without his help I doubt that I would have become a present day community pharmacist. Jock insisted that all of the remaining staff keep in touch, and he provided us with a list of names and addresses of everyone left when the department closed. The lecturers involved did our best through an annual pre-Christmas meal and get-together, somewhat irreverently referred to by my wife as "the old lags' Christmas do", but we did have some good times and stayed in touch. To jump to the present, it was nice to take part in Jock's memorial service held last week in Edinburgh, when many of his ex-colleagues — academic, technical, secretarial and staff from other departments — came together to say farewell to Jock. After the department closed, and I eventually qualified as a pharmacist, Jock and I progressed from colleagues to good friends as we both worked as locum pharmacists or in my case eventually as manager for Lindsay & Gilmour Chemists in Edinburgh. The fact that my wife organised the locums for L&G helped to keep us in touch. Then Jock took a jobshare position in a pharmacy in Ormiston, East Lothian. With the L&G connection sadly gone, we started to drift apart. Although we still had one or two Christmas reunions, it remains for others to remember this part of Jock's voyage through life. Anne and I will always remember Jock Lyall as a true gentleman and friend. Midgley In a tribute to the late Michael Lionel Midgley (PJ, 29 September, p446), GRAHAM MORRIS writes: I first met Mike Midgley back in 1983 when four pharmacists were invited to help Vestric develop the Link computerised labelling system. Mike had a successful business at Acklam that he had built up over many years. He knew what was needed in such a system and was determined to achieve his aims. Mike loved the challenge from the outset. He soon became involved in specifying the system requirements to the programmers and then testing them live in his pharmacy. His unique sense of humour and his tongue-in-cheek bluntness brought much needed relief to many hours of intense discussions. His enthusiasm and input proved so successful that he continued to work as a consultant on the Link project right up to his death. Mike was a kind and generous man. He gave a great deal of his time to the scouting movement. After almost 20 years as scout leader of the First Guisborough Scouts he joined the county training team and also became assistant district commissioner for leader training in the Redcar and Eston district. In 1993 he was awarded the medal of merit and his long service award. Among Mike's other interests were badminton, where he was a member of Guisborough Westgate badminton club for many years and bee-keeping as a member of the Cleveland bee-keeping association. He also enjoyed gardening and Scottish dancing, an activity that he shared with his wife Eileen. Mike was an active member of his local pharmaceutical committee. Mike and Eileen enjoyed being on the canals. Three years ago Mike fulfilled his dream by commissioning the construction of a 60ft narrow boat that was built at Nantwich. The boat was named Asklepios after the Greek god of healing. Pharmacy has lost a true professional, a gentleman and a real character. On a personal level, he was a close friend with whom I shared countless hours of discussion, advice and, above all, fun. I shall miss him. I would like to extend the sympathy to Eileen and his family.

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