Isobel Adeney

(q Dundee 1938; d 28 March 2006)

Isobel Adeney (nee Anderson) qualified in 1938 and then became casualty officer at the Mildmay Mission Hospital in London where she met Harold, whom she married in 1939. They sailed for Africa that year where together they served the Lord in Burundi and Rwanda. Isobel, as well as caring for her four children, all born in Burundi, worked with her husband in little mission hospitals. Isobel specialised in obstetrics and the care of the under-fives. For a time she was principal of the Buye Training School for assistant nursemidwives. Completing their missionary service in 1982 they returned to England. Isobel then served on the overseas committee of the Mothers'Union where her knowledge of the needs of African women was greatly valued. Her friends all speak of her gentle smile and soft Scottish voice as she welcomed them to the hospitality of her home. She died aged 90 after a long illness.

David and Harold Adeney

John Anderson

(q Middlesex 1952; d 16 June 2006)

John, known to everyone as Jock, was born in Lincolnshire. At 16 he committed his life to Christ and soon formed a conviction that he should serve God in the Muslim world. Deciding the best way to do this would be as a doctor, he studied natural sciences at Cambridge and medicine at the Middlesex. In 1955, with his wife Gwendy and young daughter Ruth, he travelled to Pakistan with the Bible and Medical Missionary Fellowship (now Interserve). Concerned about the needs of blind people in remote areas, he developed a caravan hospital which brought medical, surgical and ophthalmic treatment to many thousands. In 1967 Jock helped establish the first eye hospital in Kabul. This and other work in Afghanistan resulted in him being awarded the OBE in 1981. On returning to the UK he worked at Moorfields Eye Hospital where he was appointed honorary consultant in 1984. Despite ill health in his later years he remained gracious and cheerful. He is survived by Gwendy, their three children and nine grandchildren.

John Davies

William Evan Anwyl

(q Westminster 1944; d 18 July 2006)

Enjoying a cliff-top camp in Norfolk when aged twelve was Evan's first involvement in Scripture Union camps, the beginning of sixty years dedicated service as camp leader. Always patient and ready to help in any way, even after retirement Evan and his wife Mary would holiday nearby to help with transport.

Evan was brought up in Berkhamsted. After qualifying as a doctor he worked as a surgeon in British Somaliland, where he married Mary in 1953. In 1960 the British had to leave the country and Evan spent two years as medical officer for an oil company. On returning to England he worked in public health and occupational medicine in Trowbridge. Evan leaves his wife Mary, who remarks, 'We have enjoyed the company of our Lord Jesus Christ all our married life', and their three children.

Mary Anwyl and Randal Cousins

Lord Chan

(q Guy's 1964; d 21 January 2006)

Michael Chan was chosen in 2001 to be a 'people's peer' and sat on the crossbenches of the House of Lords.

Born in Singapore, he studied medicine at Guy's and returned to Singapore for several years before settling in England. Here he became a paediatrician with an interest in blood disorders. He was later appointed Visiting Professor in Ethnic Health at the University of Liverpool. He served the Chinese community through committee and charitable work and was awarded the MBE in 1991. Lord Chan was involved in many matters; he sat on the Sentencing Advisory Panel and the Press Complaints Commission, was chairman of the Chinese Overseas Christian Mission and led the Chinese in Britain Forum. He also chaired the key meeting to establish the Care Not Killing Alliance.

His gentle manner and deep knowledge won him great respect. He is survived by his wife and two children.

from The Times, 8 February 2006

Baroness Lloyd of Highbury (RCPCH)

(q Bristol 1951; d 28 June 2006)

June Lloyd, who was on the Council of Reference of CMF, played an important part in the establishment of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH). So much so that she is featured in the college's coat of arms. For many years she was a leading paediatrician and served on national committees, including the Medical Research Council. In 1985 she was appointed Nuffield Professor of Child Health at Great Ormond Street, her main research interest being in lipid metabolism. She was appointed DBE for her services to child health and in 1997 was made a life peer. Unfortunately before she took her seat in the House of Lords she suffered a major stroke that prevented her from playing an active part in the House. June lived for a further eight years and died peacefully. She did not marry, and is survived by her brother.

Bill Benson

Janet Ruth Plumptre

(q Royal Free 1958; d 23 March 2005)

After qualifying in 1958 Janet did house jobs and an SHO post in paediatrics, taking the DCH and later the DTM&H. Janet met Martin when they were both medical students and they were married in the Queen Alexandra's Hospital Chapel at Millbank. Janet became a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps. She joined the paediatric department at the Royal South Hants Hospital, becoming a medical assistant in the spina bifida and hydrocephalic clinic, when Martin went into general practice in Southampton. She also did many locums in general practice and was considered the perfect locum by one senior GP. Her advice and support were much valued by her husband.

From early Christian Union days onwards her faith and work went hand in hand and she was much loved by her patients. She enjoyed playing the organ and did so for many churches, especially during her retirement in Church Stretton. Her last year was dogged with ill health but she was always well supported by Martin, their four children and eleven grandchildren.

Martin Plumptre

Richard William Porter

(q Edinburgh 1958; d 20 July 2005)

Former professor of orthopaedic surgery at Aberdeen University, Richard was highly innovative and devised several new orthopaedic procedures. His major research interests were in spine and osteoporosis research. He won international prizes for this work, including the first Volvo Award in 1979 for work on spinal stenosis. He developed commercial machines to measure osteoporosis and pioneered ways of treating club foot.

As a Methodist local preacher he supported renewal in the church, and wrote a popular novel Journey to Eden, which encompassed ideas that synthesise biblical and scientific worldviews.

Richard leaves his wife, Christine, who was his faithful support for over 40 years; four sons; and eleven grandchildren. His epitaph: 'Loving husband, father and grandfather, friend to many'.

Daniel Porter, for the BMJ

Frances Priestman OBE

(q Royal Free 1936; d 25 October 2004)

Frances served with the Sudan United Mission (SUM) almost all her working life. In 1938 SUM opened a leprosy settlement at Maiduguri in northern Nigeria, estimating that about 4,000 people in the area had leprosy. Soon Frances was in charge here, the chief organiser of leprosy control, and subsequently many patients came willingly for early treatment. She trained some treated patients as nurses. As a result of years of patient work by Frances and her fellow missionaries the whole work of SUM in Borno province multiplied greatly. A second leprosy settlement opened at Mongu in 1949 and she worked here in a less hot and humid climate. In later years she oversaw more than 100 clinics on mission stations and villages, opening a hospital in the region in 1960. Her work for leprosy was recognised by the award of an OBE. Frances retired in 1979.

Kathleen Priestman

(q Royal Free 1934; d 26 May 2006)

Kathleen was a well known general practitioner in Hendon, north London and was greatly missed by her patients when she retired in the 1980s. She became a Fellow of the Faculty of Homeopathy in 1955 and was later in charge of the children's department of the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital. Having a strong interest in overseas mission, Kathleen was president of the Missionary School of Medicine from 1981 to 1991. In retirement she enjoyed craftwork, reading, bird watching and gardening. Her strong Christian faith sustained her to the end.

Kathleen and Frances Priestman were two of six daughters of a Quaker family in Cottingham, near Hull. They retired to the family home at Crowborough, East Sussex where they are survived by one remaining sister, Kitty.

Kitty Priestman and Anita Davies

Leslie Scott

(q Guy's 1939; d 26 March 2006)

Leslie's first medical posting to Tunbridge Wells included treating Dunkirk evacuees as they moved up from the channel ports, and then Battle of Britain pilots shot down over the local countryside. He observed the pioneering treatment of burns by MacIndoe at East Grinstead. When a committee chaired by Sir Alexander Fleming was assembled to decide how the new wonder cure – penicillin – should be distributed, Leslie represented the junior doctors.

Joining the Royal Air Force, he served as a medical officer in North Africa and Italy. After the war Leslie specialised in paediatrics. He studied at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and in 1950 was appointed a consultant to the Eastbourne and Hastings group of hospitals. He spent the next thirty years building up the paediatric service and took a special interest in the treatment of asthma, challenging the received wisdom that sea air would cure patients. He was medical officer to Pilgrims School for the severely asthmatic.

He took an active part in church life and was cofounder of the Bexhill Crusaders. In retirement he was church secretary, a Vice President of Invalid Children's Aid Nationwide, and pursued his interest in cricket and his garden. In 1947 he married Esme Pascall, who died in 1989. He is survived by three daughters and two sons.

Christopher Scott