By: Shelley Ross, MD
Dr Harold Ewart Woolley
Issue: BCMJ,
vol. 47, No. 10, December 2005,
Page 552 Obituaries
Dr Ewart Woolley died peacefully at home on 24 October 2005 with his loving wife, Margaret, by his side. He was born on a farm in England and suffered the loss of his mother at the age of 6. After serving in the parachute regiment, he sought a new life in Canada. Utilizing his natural mechanical skills, he began working on ranches in Alberta, but after a year decided to go to medical school.
In 1960, he graduated from UBC as the best obstetric student, then did his specialist training in Vancouver and at Hammersmith Hospital in London as the professor’s registrar. He began his obstetrics and gynecology practice in Burnaby in 1965, where he remained until his retirement on his 71st birthday in 2000.
He was on active staff at both Burnaby Hospital and Grace Hospital and was an associate clinical professor in the UBC Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He was no stranger to committee work and at various times served as head of the Burnaby Departments of Obstetrics and Surgery as well as being chief of staff. He was well-known for his love of teaching and was acknowledged with teaching awards from UBC and an Honorary Fellowship of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. He was also acknowledged with a Canadian Medical Association Senior Member Award.
Dr Woolley was a regular contributor to the “Letters to the Editor” section of the BC Medical Journal. He was well read and could speak with authority on many topics outside the discipline of medicine. He enjoyed gardening and riding his motorcycle. He will be missed by Margaret, his wife of 51 years, and his children, Eleanor, Susan, Jonathan, and their families. He will be remembered by many whose lives he touched, and his knowledge and skill will live on with the physicians and nurses whom he mentored.
—Shelley Ross, MD
Burnaby