Alun Lloyd THOMAS [1908-2002]

Obituary from the British Medical Journal (view original):

Alun Lloyd Thomas

Former general practitioner Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (b 8 January 1908; q Edinburgh 1932), d 14 August 2002.

Alun Lloyd Thomas was the son of Gwilym Thomas and Anne Roberts, of Arthog, Merionyddshire. Even though he grew up in England, he spoke Welsh fluently, an ability he owed to spending his summers in North Wales. In his youth, he was an avid motorcyclist. He was a prize-winning runner and a good football player, representing Edinburgh University.

After qualifying, he practised from 1936 to 1940 in New Ferry, Cheshire, and served under the London Missionary Society from 1940 to 1950 at the Nethersole Hospital, Hong Kong, and under the United Church of Canada from 1951 to 1957 at the George McDougall Hospital, Smoky Lake, Alberta, Canada. He served as a family doctor in Edmonton, Alberta, from 1957 to 1976 and retired in Metchosin, British Columbia, Canada.

He was a very good singer and it was through song that he met his wife at a London Missionary Society retreat in Cheng Chau in Hong Kong. They married in December 1941 in Canton, China, and spent the first three years of married life in a Japanese internment camp in Stanley, Hong Kong. He kept his diary there in Welsh, knowing that the Japanese would be hard pressed to find someone who could both read his handwriting and understand Welsh. "Camp", as he called internment, impressed him greatly, strengthening his marriage and clarifying the essentials of life. He strove towards the ideal of service. He was there to relieve pain and help his patients live healthy, full, meaningful lives.

In Smoky Lake, Alberta, where for several years he was the only doctor in a 40 mile radius, he frequently was on call in inclement weather to isolated farms. Later in Edmonton, Alberta, he was remembered by his patients as one of the few doctors who would do house calls. He was very aware of the need for community care of the elderly—a need he saw in the homes, hospitals, and nursing homes he served.

He loved to paint watercolours. He enjoyed walking in the mountains and gardening. He had a quick and gentle wit and enjoyed more than anything good conversation over a good cup of tea. He lived a good life.

Predeceased by his loving wife of 48 years, Elizabeth Jean MacDonald, in 1989, he leaves Helen and Megan, children of daughter Marged and her husband, Kenneth Dewar; Christopher, Andrea, and Michael, children of daughter Ruth and her husband, Edward Bennington; Darren, Rebekah, Jesse, and Keel, children of daughter Jane and her husband, Joseph Miller; Bevan, Alexander, Gwyn, and Iain, children of son Morgan and his wife, Mairi Campbell; and Owen and Jason, children of son Hugh and his wife, Joanna Hsiung. [Hugh Thomas]