It is with great sadness that I record the death from cancer of Dave Johnston on 23 January 2005. He was 55 and had fought this illness for the last 18 months of his life.

Dave was born, brought up and received his schooling in Newcastle. He was the son of a very well known and popular local general medical practitioner.

He entered Dundee University Dental Hospital and School in 1967 and rapidly established himself as one of the most popular dental students of that time. He will long be remembered as one who was fully committed to all aspects of student life; indeed his peers' comments in the 1972 Yearbook preceding his graduation describe Dave as 'a very happy guy and one of the friendliest in the class with always a smile for everyone'. A larger than life character, he was noted for his flamboyancy of dress, good looks and long flowing blond locks, which forced the establishment at Dundee Dental Hospital to review acceptable practices in relation to length of hair permitted for dental students.

On graduation Dave at first worked in general dental practice in London before moving for a spell to South Africa. On returning to the United Kingdom, he worked briefly in Cheshire before establishing himself in partnership with Val Smernicki, and later with Dave Samson, in Dundee. Dundee and its surrounding area always had a very important place in Dave's heart. The dental practice quickly gained a reputation for high quality dentistry based on total commitment to patient care. When illness forced Dave to discontinue clinical work his major contribution to patient dental welfare in the region was sorely missed.

Outside his considerable time involved in dentistry, Dave established himself as a leading light in many of the City of Dundee's business and charitable organisations including Round Table, 41 Club, Rotary and the Bonnetmakers Association of the Nine Trades of Dundee. His leisure interests invariably centred on sport with a healthy commitment to football, running (including marathons) and more notably golf.

Shortly after his graduation Dave married Elspeth and in time had two daughters, Zoe and Natalie. Dave was a totally devoted husband and father and latterly a very loving grandfather to Zoe and Dominic's son Luca. At this time all our thoughts are with his family, including his mother and sister who are now based in Florida, USA where Dave and Elspeth spent so much of their vacation time and owned their own property.

...a talented, jovial, compassionate but most especially thoroughly humble

The enormous turnout at Dave's funeral in Dundee represented the great esteem in which he was held in dentistry and in Tayside and the incredible number of people who were privileged to be friends with such a talented, jovial, compassionate but most especially thoroughly humble guy.