Richard Brockbank Ward

Dick Ward passed away peacefully on 19 March 2010 aged 88 and I lost a colleague, a partner and a friend. Dick was held in high esteem by all who knew him, both as a dentist and as a man. His skills, his humour and his wonderful personality will be sorely missed.

Dick was born on 1 July 1921 and studied dentistry at Birmingham where he qualified in 1944. It was whilst an undergraduate that he met fellow dental student, Kathleen, whom he married in 1945.

After qualification Dick served in the Royal Navy. On his discharge in 1948 he joined John Threlfall in practice at George Street in Huntingdon at the inception of the Health Service and remained the leading figure in the practice for 34 years until his retirement. For 30 years he also ran a clinic at Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridge. He was loved and respected by his patients, his partners, his staff and his colleagues alike. A practitioner can have no better epitaph.

Throughout his career Dick was a great champion of the BDA and he encouraged all his partners and colleagues to play an active roll in the Association. He recognised that only by unity could we provide mutual support and maintain the status of the profession. He was in turn Section Chairman, Branch Secretary and then in 1975 Eastern Counties Branch President. In 1986 he was made a Life Member of the Association in recognition of his exceptional contribution.

After his retirement from practice in 1982 Dick found a second career as a cabinet maker. The dexterity, patience and care which had marked his years in the surgery found expression in the most wonderful craftsmanship in wood.

Always the family man, Dick is survived by Kathleen, his wife of over 64 years, two daughters, Catherine and Elizabeth, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.