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Birch On 7 April, Joyce Margaret Birch, MRPharmS, aged 79, of 27 Waterloo
Street, Leek, Staffordshire ST13 8AS. Miss Birch registered
in 1949. She was a former committee member of the North Staffordshire branch
of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
Halton On 5 January, John Lawrence Halton, MRPharmS, aged 92, of Brandreth Lodge
Nursing Home, Stoney Lane, Parbold, Wigan, Lancashire WN8 7AF. Mr Halton registered
in 1936.
Hedgman On 10 April, Michael Charles Hedgman, MRPharmS, aged 62, of 17 Madeley
Close, Chesham Bois, Amersham, Buckinghamshire HP6 6ET. Mr Hedgman registered
in 1969.
McGreal On 6 April, Laurence Anthony Joseph McGreal, MRPharmS, aged 72, of 450
Kilmarnock Road, Newlands, Glasgow G43 2RL. Mr McGreal registered in 1957.
Miskelly On 10 April, John Walton Miskelly, MBE, MRPharmS, aged 70, of The Old
Post Office, Hatton of Fintray, Aberdeen AB21 0YG. Mr Miskelly registered in
1961.
Simpson On 18 April, Beatrice Joan Simpson, née Winterton, MRPharmS, aged
89, of 3 Ashley House, 56 Forest Road, Bordon, Hampshire GU35 0XT. Mrs Simpson
registered in 1941.
Stenlake On 14 April, John Bedford Stenlake, CBE, FRPharmS, aged 86, of Mark
Corner, Glengap Road, Twynholm, Kirkcudbright DG6 4PR. Professor Stenlake registered
in 1941. He was a recipient of the Society’s Charter gold medal for 1990
and its Harrison memorial medal in 1974 (see p516).
Professor Stenlake served an apprenticeship with Boots The Chemists. After passing
the Pharmaceutical Society’s intermediate examination at the age of 19,
he was awarded a Jacob Bell memorial scholarship, which allowed him to study
at the Society’s School of Pharmacy, where he was awarded medals for distinction
in pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmacognosy and the Society’s Pereira
medal as the most distinguished student in his final year.
After war service as a pilot in the Royal Air Force, he returned to the school
as demonstrator and then assistant lecturer while he continued his studies and
obtained a first class honours BSc degree in chemistry at Birkbeck College. In
1950 he completed his PhD and became a lecturer in pharmaceutical chemistry.
In 1952 he joined the staff of the then Royal College of Science and Technology
in Glasgow and in 1962 was appointed professor and head of the department of
pharmacy. Following the college’s transition to the University of Strathclyde
in 1964, he was dean of the school of pharmaceutical sciences from 1967 to 1975.
When he retired from the university in 1982, he was given an honorary professorship.
His achievements and service to the profession included membership of the British
Pharmacopoeia Commission. He was first appointed a member 1973 and served as
vice-chairman from 1978 to 1980 and chairman from 1980 to 1988, during which
time he also led the UK delegation to the European Pharmacopoeia Commission.
He was a member of the Committee on Safety of Medicines from 1970 to 1979 and
founder chairman of its chemistry, pharmacy and standards subcommittee. He was
appointed a member of the Medicines Commission in 1984.
He was the author or co-author of well over 100 scientific papers and reviews
and author or co-author of a number of standard textbooks. He was made CBE in
1985 for his contribution to the quality assurance and control of drugs and medicines.
He was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1964 and in 1986 he
received the Royal Society’s Mullard award for outstanding contribution
to the advancement of science.
Thomas On 3 April, William Roger Thomas, MRPharmS, aged 66, of Awelon, 21 Manor
Crescent, Llanllwch, Carmarthen, Dyfed SA31 3RJ. Mr Thomas registered in 1962.
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Tribute
Aschkenasy In a tribute to the late Basile
Hipolyt Aschkenasy (PJ, 4 March, p279), ROBERT SMITH writes:
Basil Aschkenasy
was born in Bucharest
in 1929. When his family left Romania in the post-war years and settled
in Argentina, he chose to remain in Europe. He spent his early education
years at the University of Rome before coming to London, where he was
to spend the rest of his life.
I was fortunate to meet him in the autumn of 1953 when we both became
pharmacy students reading for the new three-year honours BPharm degree
at the Chelsea
School of Pharmacy. We were to remain firm friends for more than 50 years.
After graduating BPharm in 1956 and undergoing postgraduate training, Basil joined
Beecham Laboratories as an experimental pharmacologist but he did not find the
industrial climate for research particularly congenial. He then entered hospital
pharmacy as a pharmacist at Dorking Hospital, a calling that he found much more
acceptable. From here he developed a career in hospital pharmacy spanning more
than three decades, subsequently moving to the Institute of Psychiatry at the
Maudsley Hospital, where he became chief pharmacist and eventually group chief
pharmacist.
He had a remarkable encyclopaedic knowledge of drugs and took pride in keeping
up to date on new developments. He developed close relationships with clinicians
and consultants at the Maudsley Hospital and was much respected for his expertise
and knowledge. Indeed, he instigated visits to the wards by pharmacists, a practice
that is widely accepted nowadays. Quite apart from his detailed knowledge of
clinical pharmacology he was also interested in herbal and complementary medicine,
about which he maintained an open mind.
By nature he was a charming person, warm in his personal relationships and solicitous
for one’s well-being. We would meet from time to time to dine together.
He had a remarkable penchant for discovering new unpublicised ethnic restaurants
in different parts of London.
Basil took early retirement from the Maudsley Hospital, mainly because he found
the new administrative atmosphere to be difficult and indeed unpleasant, time-consuming
and time-wasting. Indeed, he relearnt the relevance of the old dictum “Administrators
should be on tap and not on top”.
Following his retirement he enjoyed a quiet life but kept himself up to date
with pharmaceutical developments. He remained a frequent visitor to the Maudsley
Hospital, where he could be found in conversation with former colleagues in the
hospital canteen.
He is survived by his wife Jean, two daughters and two grandchildren.
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal