Thomas ("Tom") John Parkinson
Former paediatrician Alberta, Canada (b 1924; q St Andrews 1946; BSc,
MSc, DCH, MRCP, FRCPC), died from a brain tumour on 21 January 2006.
Thomas Parkinson ("Tom") distinguished himself as a student, graduating
BSc at the age of 18. After completing his medical studies he spent some
time in the army attaining the rank of major and making 19 parachute jumps.
On demobilisation he specialised in paediatrics working in Great Ormond Street
Hospital and in Bristol before emigrating to Canada in 1957. The family made
their home in Alberta, where Tom continued to practise as a paediatrician,
at times doing locums in the Canadian Arctic among the Inuit.
He was the author of numerous and varied publications and later returned
to London to do a master’s degree in medical demography.
As retirement approached the Parkinsons began to holiday in the Caribbean
and eventually bought an apartment in Barbados, where Tom spent the winters
and returned just before his death.
Predeceased by his, wife, Anna, in 1996, he is survived by three daughters,
two sons, and 12 grandchildren, all resident in Canada. [Charlotte J
S Duff]