Dr Andrew (Drew) Bryson Young

1934–2013 
Drew died on 13 February after several years of deteriorating cognitive function followed by the fairly rapid progres-sion of a malignancy. He was very much aware initially of his failing memory, but carried on as normally as possible, playing golf until he no longer enjoyed his rising scores, caring for his lawn and flower garden, and worrying about putting too much stress on his wife, Marilyn, and his family.

Born in Vancouver on 25 September 1934, Drew was the eighth and youngest child of John and Mary Young, who emigrated from Scotland in 1929 with six children. Drew and older sister Jean were the only Canadian-born children in the family. Drew’s early years were spent on the UBC Farm, to which his father had brought a shipment of 24 purebred Ayrshire cattle as a gift from breeders in Scotland. The gift was financed largely by Captain J.C. Dun-waters of Fintry, BC, himself a lover of the Ayrshire cow. Learning about hard work, responsibility, and commit-ment—lessons that rural life can teach—helped shape Drew’s moral ethic and sense of responsibility.

Drew spent grades 1 through 12 at University Hill School. He went on to UBC, gaining entry into the Faculty of Medicine after completing third-year science. Upon graduation in 1959, he won the McCreery Gold Medal in pediat-rics. After internships at Calgary General Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital, he entered general practice in Chilliwack in 1961, forming a partnership with his older brother Archie, and eventually expanding to a group practice of five doctors. 

The benefits of a group practice allowed Drew the ability to pursue his interest in medical politics and to become increasingly active in the BCMA, serving as the delegate for District 7. Being chairman of the Medical Economics Committee (now called the Tariff Committee) for several years was a highlight of his involvement with the BCMA, as was serving as a delegate from the BCMA to the CMA General Council. He put forth his name as a candidate for presidency of the CMA, but did not win the position. 

The following honors were awarded to Drew:
•    1994: Dr Wallace Wilson Leadership Award, from UBC Medical Alumni. 
•    1996: Dr David Bacchop Gold Med-al, for outstanding contribution to health care by a family physician in BC.
•    2000: Senior membership in the CMA.
•    2003: BCMA Silver Medal of Service, for dedication to patient care and service to organized medicine.

Drew was appreciative and grateful for all the honors he received, but he would have said that the help he was able to offer his patients in their times of need was the most rewarding aspect of his career in medicine. 

Drew was a beacon of honor, trust, and respect. He was a life enhancer, dispensing CSF (“colleague stimulating factor”) with a positive osmotic gradient, and by his examples of common sense, good judgment, ethics, fairness, and generosity. One of his most enviable qualities was an inability to speak an unkind word of anyone, no matter how egregious their behavior. The best words to describe Drew are adjectives rarely used today, namely “courtly” and “wise.” You could entrust your life to him with complete confidence. 

Drew valued highly the friendship, skills, wisdom, and intense loyalty of his fellow group practice partners, Drs Patrick Curling, Kenneth Hirst, Howard Bright, and Ronald Bull; his brother, Dr Archie Young; and the late Dr George Drever. He was especially pleased that on his retirement he was able to leave his patients in the capable hands of Dr Scott Markey.

He is survived by his wife, Marilyn; daughter Cathy Tinnion; daughter Sharon Pritchard and her husband Ross; sons Brian Young, Dr Donald Young and wife Dr Karolyn Arato, and David Young; six grandchildren; sisters Isobel and Jean; and brother, Dr Archie Young. He was predeceased by brothers John, David, Alastair, and sister Grace. 

Drew’s family has established a Drew Young Memorial Fund, being held in trust by the Chilliwack Hos-pital and Health Care Foundation (CHHCF). Funds donated to this memorial will, at the discretion of Drew’s family, be donat-ed to a cause related to health care at Chilliwack General Hospital. Please visit the CHHCF website at www.chhcf.org or phone 604 702-9506 to make a donation. 
—Archie D. Young, MD
—Henry Pauls, MD