PHILIP RAIKES BROMAGE

PHILIP RAIKES BROMAGE, MB, BS, FFARCS, FFARCA - WILLISTON - Philip passed away peacefully at his home in Williston on Friday, June 7, 2013. He was a giant in the world of anaesthesia, a man of great culture and humor, unfailingly courteous with a wide range of interests, a love of the outdoors - particularly of his beloved Vermont. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him. Philip was born on Oct. 28, 1920, in London, England, to Richard Raikes and Mary (nee Hamill) Bromage. Philip received his secondary education at Ampleforth College in Yorkshire. After graduating from London University, he went on to receive his medical training at St. Thomas' Hospital, qualifying as a doctor in 1943. After rejection for service in the Armed Forces in 1944, due to a chronic mastoid infection, he entered the Merchant Navy as a ship's doctor on HMS Salween, a troop ship. He served in the Burma landings during the last year of World War II. On his return, he married Brenda Fernyhough in 1945 with whom he had three children, and was appointed House Physician and Surgeon at Southend Municipal Hospital under the tutelage of Dr. Alfred J. Lee, a well known anaesthetist, where he became enthused by anaesthesia. After further training at St. Thomas', he joined a busy anaesthetic practice in West Sussex. With Dr. Lee's encouragement, he used the experience that he had gained to write his first book, "Spinal Epidural Analgesia." This led to an invitation to lecture at a number of medical centers in North America in 1955. He was subsequently invited to join the faculty at McGill University in Montreal, as assistant professor of anaesthesia, under Dr. Harold Griffiths, in 1956. After the breakdown of his first marriage, he married Margaret Jean "Meg" Parkinson in 1969. He succeeded Dr. Griffiths, as Chairman of the McGill Department of Anaesthesia in 1970, and seven years later moved to Duke University in North Carolina. In 1981, he moved to Denver, Colo., as Chairman of the Department of Anaesthesia of the University of Colorado School of Medicine. An exchange program offered him the opportunity of a three year appointment as Professor at the King Khaled University Hospital, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. For the three years prior to his retirement, he was Scientist-in-Residence at the Medical Center of Delaware, and Professor at Thomas Jefferson University Medical School. In his retirement, he continued to work and write from his home on Jay Peak, Vt. During his career he traveled extensively as an invited lecturer including to Europe, North and South America, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and many countries in Africa. His was a prolific writer, publishing a 700-page book entitled, "Spinal Epidural Analgesia," two other books on epidural analgesia, over 90 original papers, 25 chapters in other text books, as well as a number of collaborative papers. He was presented with many awards during his career, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Louvain, Belgium, in the company of Mother Theresa of Calcutta. He retained an honorary professorship in the Department of Anaesthesia at McGill University, where an annual research day is named after him. He was predeceased by Brenda, Meg, and his daughter, Jennifer. He is survived by his son, Richard; daughter, Susan; and four grandchildren, Julian, Maria, James and Laura. There will be a Mass at a date to be announced. Visiting hours will be held on Tuesday, June 11, 2013, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Ready Funeral and Cremation Service South Chapel, 261 Shelburne Rd., Burlington. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to the charity of one's choice.