Michael Taylor Stather-Dunn

Michael left his training as a quantity surveyor to join the Royal Air Force as a spitfire pilot in the second world war. He saw action in the Far East, taking his matriculation exams in a tent in the jungle. He then took advantage of a scheme supporting ex-servicemen to train in needed disciplines and studied medicine. After qualification and marriage to Brenda, a fellow student, he embarked on training in psychiatry. He was then appointed consultant psychiatrist in Carmarthen, he and Brenda having fallen in love with south Wales during the husband and wife house jobs they had done there. For the rest of his career Michael provided consultant psychiatrist services to the people of Haverfordwest and its environs. The locations of his work meant much travelling and he managed an enormous workload. He is remembered by former patients with great affection as a kind, committed doctor. It was not unknown for him to answer the question "But why can’t I leave hospital?" with "Because you’re mad!" Perhaps because of this straightforwardness a number continued to ring his home for advice until his death. He was particularly committed to the care of those with serious psychotic disorders, believing in the benefit of asylum for the most disabled. In 1977 he retired early following a coronary artery bypass graft performed at his alma mater, Barts. He then renovated a house in his beloved Pembrokeshire and took over the cooking in order to allow Brenda to return to medicine full time. As Michael’s health deteriorated he found the restrictions imposed by his illness distressing but achieved his wish of a peaceful death at home. He is survived by his wife, three daughters, and five grandchildren. [Lois Stather-Dunn]