John Adrian Russell Tibbles

February 23, 1929 - September 06, 2023

John Adrian Russell Tibbles died peacefully at home on September 6th. Born on February 23, 1929, in Yorkshire, England, to Dr. Nick and Joan Tibbles, John trained at what is now the Royal London Hospital Medical College. After graduation he was employed as a house doctor and spent his National Service in the Royal Air Force in Singapore and Hong Kong as a general practitioner.

He emigrated to Canada with his fiancée, Dr. Sylvia Keet. They soon married and had three children who they raised in Halifax. Both John and Sylvia were residents in paediatrics first in Ottawa and then at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto where he became interested in paediatric neurology. He returned to England to study adult neurology and then back to Toronto as a Research Fellow in paediatric neurology. John was appointed to the staff of the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit where he stayed for two years. In 1965, John returned to Canada to become the first paediatric neurologist East of Quebec at the old Halifax Children's Hospital. He enjoyed the challenge of trying to provide teaching in the medical school, and a new service to a scattered population while taking advantage of some of the opportunities for clinical research in a new discipline. Over time, the department grew, and they were able to provide travelling clinics to more distant parts of the Maritimes and a productive clinical research team.

John's research interests remained clinical largely in the areas of epilepsy, and the borderlands of epilepsy and migraine. During this time, he was a President of both the Canadian Paediatric Society and the Canadian Association of Child Neurology and was a member of the board of examiners in neurology of the Royal College. Later he was also honoured by his colleagues when the annual Canadian Association of Child Neurology lectureship in child neurology was named after him.
In 1986, John moved to Victoria to be the Medical Director of the Queen Alexandra Children's Centre and opened a private practice in paediatric neurology. John was dedicated to his Socrates discussion group and playing chess. Some other pleasures he shared with his wife Valerie included cruising and racing out of the RVYC, studying Spanish throughout Mexico and teaching Spanish at Goward House.

Besides his wife Valerie, he is survived by daughters Francesca (Gregg) Dawe of Nanoose Bay; Isabelle Southcott of Powell River; son Russell (Mary) Tibbles of Comox; grandchildren Matthew and Alexander Southcott; Ben and Olivia Tibbles. He is also survived by stepchildren Helen (Jean Baillargeon) Roberts; Susan (Doug) McCreary and David (Laura) Roberts and numerous step grandchildren.

The family wishes to thank their many friends for their support, visits, and kindness as well as the nursing staff and Susan McCreary for their wonderful care. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Habitat for Humanity or Doctors Without Borders.
A celebration of life will be held on December 16, 2pm at the First Unitarian Church in Saanich.
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