Michael Spooner

Michael Spooner March 18, 1937 - Jan 15, 2018 Michael A. Spooner, Associate Dean, Chief Medical Director, Professor of Family Medicine, and loving father, died, in the company of his family, on January 15, 2018.

He was born in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1937 and spent his formative years in that city. In 1958 he married Donna (nee Rice) Kernaghan and they remained committed and inseparable for the next 60 years.

Graduating in Medicine from the University of Toronto in 1963, he worked continuously until he was 75 years old.

Following internship, Mike returned to Regina and started his career as a family physician at the Medical Arts Clinic, joining his father, Harold, an orthopedic surgeon in the Clinic. It was during this time that he became involved with a new organization dedicated to medical education and improved practice, the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), and in so doing set out his vocational path for the years to come.

In 1972, he and Donna packed up their young family and ventured to Michigan State University where, as a McLaughlin Fellow, he obtained his Master's degree in Medical Education. This led to a return to Saskatchewan to the College of Medicine in Saskatoon where he oversaw a myriad of changes to the College's educational processes. In 1975 it was back to Regina, now as the Chairman of the Department of Family Medicine and subsequently as the Associate Dean of Medicine with a mandate to extend the undergraduate and postgraduate reach of the College of Medicine not only to the southern half of the province but to its citizens in the north as well. In recognition of his seminal role in forming Saskatchewan's Northern Medical Service he was awarded the Queen's Jubilee Medal.

As a medical educator, Mike remained close to his family medicine roots and in 1978 served as President of the CFPC. As a practitioner who was aging along with his patients, Mike saw the need for a different aspect of family practice, that being the new discipline of geriatrics. Once again, he left his established position to repurpose himself. He and Donna spent a year at UCLA and the University of Edinburgh as he honed new skills. Upon returning to Regina he found geriatrics practice opportunities limited so he looked to the United States. Here he found work with his favourite group of patients - veterans. He joined the Veterans Administration (VA) and worked first as a geriatrician and subsequently (as the VA recognized his administrative skill) as the Medical Director at a variety of VA hospitals.

Following retirement from the VA, Mike joined the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. This work took him all over the USA and, later, all over the world.

Beyond his accomplishments, it was Mike's essence as a magnificent human being, husband, and father that will truly be missed. He loved his family with all his heart and he preserved his sense of humour and his sense of caring for others to the day he died, all the while approaching his death with an unparalleled dignity and grace.

He is survived by his wife Donna, children Peter (Claudia), Jane (Chris Arrasmith), Melinda (David Diviney), Thomas, and his grandchildren, Ellen, Michael (Samantha), Bridget, Maggie, Anthony, Gabriella, Nicholas, Patrick, Charles, Rose Marie, Jack, Thomas, and great-grandchild, Isabella.