Dr Peter Allen, 1921–2014

Dr Peter Allen passed away peacefully on 17 November 2014 at the age of 92 after a brief illness. Dr Allen was the adored husband of Dr Dolly Bhola and beloved father to her son Abhay. Along with his predeceased wife, Mary Allen, he was the parent of Elizabeth, Peter (Joan), and Graham (Sandra). He was the proud grandfather of Alex, Emily, and Stephanie Rankin; Michael and Brian Allen; and Christopher Allen. Dr Allen was predeceased by his brother, Keith, of Seattle. Dr Allen’s maternal grand-father, Sir George Bury, and his mother, Doris Allen, were the most influential role models in his early life.

Born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, on 13 December 1921, Dr Allen was schooled in Vancouver and graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School in 1946. After he received his FRSCC in general surgery in 1953, he held a fellowship in thoracic surgery in 1964 at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, England. He also completed a year of study in internal medicine in Amsterdam.

Dr Allen was a professor at the UBC Faculty of Medicine and practised at Vancouver General Hospital as a cardiac surgeon for 36 years. He performed the first open heart surgical procedure in British Columbia (closure of ASD) on 29 October 1957. In 1993 Dr Allen retired as an emeritus professor of clinical surgery from UBC.

Dr Allen’s international contributions included performing the first coronary bypass surgery in Cardiff, and establishing the first cardiac surgical centre in Bhopal in 1977. In Bhopal he became a major influence in the practice of cardiac surgery and the teaching of medical and nursing students for many years.

He was a member of Pete’s Club, founded in 1959, which is a group of cardiac surgeons from the United Kingdom and western Europe. He was also a member of Jane’s Surgical Group, a forum for the exchange of scientific knowledge in the international surgical community, which met for 36 consecutive years starting in 1953.

For the past 16 years, Dr Allen was on the board of directors at the Ian Anderson House Hospice in Oakville, Ontario, and served on the Grants Committee of the Oakville Community Foundation. His life was defined by eternal optimism, adventure, enthusiasm, and incredible friendships. He was an avid historian with an unsurpassed thirst for knowledge, an accomplished athlete—tennis player, skier, fly fisherman—and a published author. He traveled to all corners of the world and especially to all corners of Canada. Dr Allen was a fiercely loyal and proud Canadian and in recent years visited historical sites of the First World War and the Second World War, including attending the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. He was a generous, kind man who was unwavering in his love and dedication to his family and friends. He will be deeply missed, but his legacy is one which all his loving family and friends are committed to perpetuate.
—Lawrence Burr, MD
Vancouver