Michael Templeton Scott-Kerr (Day Boy, 1954)

The following has been written his family.

We are sad to announce that on 26 February 2023, Mike passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. Mike was born in Eccleshall, Staffordshire on 19 October 1935. His family then moved to Cheltenham, and he spent his early years there before leaving for three years with his mother and brother to attend boarding school in Wales during WWII. He returned to Cheltenham towards the end of the war to finish his schooling at College, where he excelled at sports, achieving awards in rowing (he was the stroke for the 1st IV), handball, and track. He joined the Boy Scouts, becoming a first-class scout with honours, a troop leader, and travelling to Norway. After the war, the family would vacation in France, with stops at his uncle’s winery in the Nuit St. George commune. After high school, Mike embarked on a three-week cycling holiday in France with a friend.

Mike attended Pembroke College, Cambridge where he received a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Surgery, and a Bachelor of Medicine. He completed his residency at Guy’s Hospital in London, winning the Golding Bird Gold Medal in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and being admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal College of Physicians of London in 1960. Shortly after qualifying as a doctor, he did a tour as ship doctor aboard the MV (Motor Vessel) Glengyle, the ‘Lucky’ Glen, where he travelled through the Suez Canal to the Far East with stops in Singapore, Shanghai and Japan. This experience had a profound impact on his life, and he talked extensively about this trip. He worked in London as a general practitioner before going to Canada in 1963. After completing a one-year residency in anaesthesia at the University of Alberta, he moved to Nelson with his fiancée, Eleanor, to start work in Canada as a GP/anaesthetist. After a year in Nelson, he relocated to the Medical Arts Clinic in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.

In Nanaimo, Mike and Eleanor started a family and settled into island life. He decided a career change was needed and returned to school to specialise in anaesthesia, completing his specialisation in 1975. From there, he went to work at St Mary’s Hospital in New Westminster until he retired in 1994, and then did some locum work in Nanaimo before fully retiring in 1998.

Mike enjoyed travelling, gardening, history, and most of all, wine. He spent much time in retirement sourcing grapes and making wine, which he shared generously. During his working years, he enjoyed golf, tennis, and squash. The family went on summer vacations across Canada and the Western United States as well as Spain to see his parents.

Mike also enjoyed many trips with Eleanor to Mexico, exploring much of the country. Mike and Eleanor, also travelled to Hawaii, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, France, New Zealand, the Cook Islands, as well as many other destinations. He enjoyed travelling and indulging his interest in history by visiting the historic sites he had read about. At age 60, he got his basic cruising certificate, bought a small sailboat, the Lung Ta, and enjoyed cruising around the Gulf Islands.

Mike is survived by his loving wife Eleanor, sons Christopher (Debbie) and Ian (Vanessa), grandchildren Connor, Chloe, Annabelle and Mikalya, brother Dougie (Enid), and niece Fiona (James) and family.