1931-2020

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Alan was a polymath of life, a natural enthusiast about many diverse areas, who lived life to the full. He grew up in a small village in Gloucestershire, describing his childhood as idyllic, returning for most of his working life to the area he loved. He qualified at BDS Birmingham 1955 (LDS RCS Eng 1954) and trained in orthodontics at the Institute of Dental Surgery, Eastman Dental Hospital under Professor Clifford Ballard, obtaining DOrth and FDS RCS Eng in 1960. Enjoying the heady mix of London in the 1960s, it was here that he met Helena who was to become his wife in 1965.

Senior registrar training took him to the South Coast, and Bournemouth, where he worked under John Hooper, the first NHS consultant in orthodontics. Here he was inculcated with an ethos of treating lots of patients, believing it better to provide some orthodontics to many rather than lots to few.

As a consultant orthodontist his dream job began in Cheltenham and Gloucester in 1972, developing a regional orthodontic service from scratch and enabling him to return 'home'. He also set up a mixed dental practice in Suffolk Road, Cheltenham, for NHS and private orthodontics. At that time children born with clefts were managed in a dispersed model of care and Alan, caring deeply, collected detailed records of those under his care. His love of orthodontics and passion about providing high volume care has enthused several generations of orthodontists. Latterly, he had teaching sessions with postgraduates in Bristol Dental Hospital where he enjoyed imparting his own thinking about orthodontics ('Rural Hedgewise' was a particular favourite) but always respecting the need for a grounded approach in early training.

If you wanted to experience the finer things in life Alan knew exactly what these were, travelling extensively in Europe, fluent in French and Italian and with a considerable knowledge of wine. His love of the opera took us frequently to Glyndebourne and he had a penchant for buying Tudor houses and then building amazing gardens; his final project in Bromsberrow being a stunning haven of colour and peacefulness.

Helena pre-deceased him but he is survived by his children Emma and Pete and his granddaughters, Dora, Freda, Elsie and Maude. He adored them all and was enormously proud of their achievements. I was lucky to know him as a good friend, I miss him enormously, but I am also glad that he has found peace.

Jonathan Sandy