Dr Guy Barnes, 1918-2014

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 56, No. 8, October 2014, Page 396 Obituaries
By: Irwin Stewart, MD,

portrait of the late Dr. Barnes
Dr Guy Barnes was one of my interviewers when I applied for a position on the intern staff at Royal Columbian Hospital in 1956. Several of us UBC graduates were accepted and we had a great year. During the internship, much of the month devoted to anesthesia was spent under the tutelage of Dr Guy Barnes and his colleagues, Drs Ivan Logan, Gordon Worsley, Murray Atnikoff, and Fred Walton.

Dr Barnes served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the Second World War and retired with the rank of major. He then moved from Ontario to BC, where he met Dr Ivan Logan at Vancouver General Hospital, and they became lifelong friends. In 1947 Dr Barnes moved to Royal Columbian Hospital with Dr Logan and they continued to practise for many years. 

During my internship, Dr Barnes and colleagues assumed that at least some of us would go on to a career in anesthesia or choose a general practice where we might be called upon to provide anesthesia. As a result, we were taught a thorough and complete basic training in preparing an anesthetic and intubation. When I completed postgraduate work in England, some good opportunities were tied to being able to cover anesthesia for 2 nights per week, so I thanked God and anesthetists like Dr Barnes for teaching us how to provide safe anesthesia.

Dr Barnes continued to provide excellent anesthesia service at Royal Columbian Hospital and joined Dr Murry Atnikov and Dr Patrick Debenham to form Central Anesthetic Services at Royal Columbian Hospital until he retired in 1986.

Dr Barnes loved gardening and photography and was always neat and tidy--even after his wife passed away and he was not so mobile. He arranged for his barber to come to his care home to give him a good shave and haircut on a regular basis. He always claimed that his experience with the military had taught him to always look your best.

Dr Barnes passed away quietly in his care home on 27 May 2014 in his 96th year, predeceased by his wife, Helen, his brother, John, and his son, Guy Jr.
--Irwin Stewart, MD
New Westminster

Irwin Stewart, MD,. Dr Guy Barnes, 1918-2014. BCMJ, Vol. 56, No. 8, October, 2014, Page(s) 396 - Obituaries.


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