Dr William Gregory (Greg) MacDougall, 1947–2025

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 67, No. 6, July August 2025, Page 225 Obituaries
By: Eugene Leduc, MD

Dr William Gregory (Greg) MacDougall.

Trying to golf on a nine-hole sand course at the edge of the Sahara Desert is difficult. The ball can bounce off rocks and bury itself in the brush between the oiled greens. But Dr Greg MacDougall, intrepid family doctor and enthusiastic golfer, found enjoyment in this when he worked in Africa.

Like that golf ball, Dr MacDougall bounced around the world for most of his life. The son of a Canadian career diplomat, he was born in Halifax but grew up in Glasgow, Belfast, and Ottawa. After graduating from high school in Ottawa, he returned to Scotland to study medicine. He graduated from the University of Glasgow in the class of 1971, then interned in Toronto, where he met Barbara, a British midwife.

After Greg and Barbara married, they were determined to raise their children in just one location, so they settled in Ottawa for 25 years, where Greg started a family practice. They had a son, Andrew, and a daughter, Anne (Lankin). On the side, Greg enjoyed golfing but also learned to speak French, served as an Ottawa city councilor and a police commissioner, and was an active Liberal Party member. He also learned to fly and completed master’s degrees in health administration and international affairs.

When their two children left the nest, Greg and Barbara ricocheted around the world again. Greg served 3 years as senior medical advisor for Mobil Oil Corporation in Doha, Qatar; 3 years at the International SOS Medical Clinic in Hanoi, Vietnam; and another 2 years at the ExxonMobil clinic in N'Djamena, Chad.

In 2005, Greg and Barbara’s ball finally came to rest on a green in Victoria, BC. Greg quickly accumulated a very large family practice at Doctors Medical Clinic. After 10 years, he retired from clinical work, much to the disappointment of his patients and colleagues, who greatly admired and sought his wisdom and experience. Despite his failing health in recent years, he managed to fly to the UK many times to visit his son’s and daughter’s families and enjoy time with his three grandchildren. At his request, his ashes were spread by the sea, close to his favorite hole at the Victoria Golf Club.
—Eugene R. Leduc, MD
Victoria

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Eugene Leduc, MD. Dr William Gregory (Greg) MacDougall, 1947–2025. BCMJ, Vol. 67, No. 6, July, August, 2025, Page(s) 225 - Obituaries.


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