Obituary

Dr John Irwin Newstead 1936 –

2010
In writing this appreciation of John and all that he achieved, I realise that I knew relatively little of him at a
personal level, particularly during his earlier years. I do recall him as a final year medical student in Dunedin in
1966. He was one of very few students who knew that he wanted to be an anaesthetist even before he started
medical school. Perhaps this related to his work before training in medicine – unlike many
of us at that time, he did not start his medical training for several years after leaving school.
From his early years, John approached his work from an original and questing perspective. He would always
tackle a problem from a different angle to most of us. He trained in anaesthesia partly in New Zealand and partly
in Australia. A final year spent at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne with Dr Kevin McCaul was
important in shaping his professional interests. He recalled that time with considerable affection. In 1974, he
returned to New Zealand to take up a position as a specialist anaesthetist at Southland Hospital in Invercargill
where he worked until 1985.
One of John’s lasting interests was in equipment used in anaesthesia, this leading to his work on technical
standards and as a New Zealand representative on the relevant committees of the International Standards
Organisation. His involvement with the teaching of trainee anaesthetists lead to his appointment as a primary
examiner in pharmacology in 1982.
In 1985, John moved from Invercargill to Christchurch where he took up appointments to the Canterbury Area
Health Board and the Christchurch School of Medicine. He soon became comprehensively involved as a (highly
regarded) teacher and with matters related to equipment for the Department of Anaesthesia. At a national level, his
expertise was acknowledged by his election to the regional committee of the (then) Faculty of Anaesthetists of the
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
John and I developed our friendship during his early years in Christchurch where he also had interests in the
restorations of vintage aeroplanes at the Airforce Museum out at Wigram and working on the restoration of a
steam railway engine. Of particular importance was John’s meeting
with Jenny, then the secretary to the Department of Anaesthesia. Their marriage resulted in John having a second
family with Sophie, 18, and Hamish, 7, becoming major influences in his life. At the time of John’s death, Jenny
and John had spent 24 very happy years together.
The needs of his young family were a major factor in John’s move early in 1994 to a consultant appointment at the
King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital in Saudi Arabia. During their time there,
I met up with John and Jenny and Sophie in Switzerland when we were able to indulge a mutual interest in train
photography and travel. A 15km hike over a mountain range gave both of us blisters and a chance to share many
thoughts. John and Jenny were wonderful hosts.
After leaving Riyadh in 1999, John and his family moved to Dubbo in NSW where he worked until bringing the
family back to Christchurch in retirement in 2004. His health problems over his latter years did not prevent
continuing professional associations
in areas of interest. He had an ongoing association with Fisher and Paykel Healthcare in an advisory capacity, a
relationship he valued enormously.
John was a direct man who did not suffer fools gladly. He was a loyal friend to many – more outside of medicine
than within. He was greatly impressed and grateful for the skills of those caring for him during recent major
surgery and had seemingly made a good recovery from some daunting procedures. When I met him about three
months before his very sudden death while working at his computer, he was looking forward keenly to some
outcomes from his work with Fisher and Paykel. He talked proudly of Sophie’s move on from school to study law
at Canterbury University in 2011, and about the much-loved companionship given to him by Hamish. Love and
support for and by Jenny was also of great importance to him, as well as that of his four older children, Pippa,
Robert, Tom and David, from his first marriage.
John has been a great colleague to many of us who are proud to have known him. He was notable for his
friendship, his deep knowledge of many things, his wry humour and his honesty. He will be greatly missed by
many colleagues and by his family. His funeral had to be deferred because of the Christchurch earthquake. John
would have found that very funny.
Professor John M Gibbs
Queensland
 
ANZCA Bulletin December 2010 111