In memory of Dr. Joan Wilson
Joan Wilson , 10.06.26- 27.06 06. Born in London, her father a doctor, her mother a nurse, studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, MB ChB 1949, married a fellow medical student, Cedric Wilson, who became Professor of Pharmacology at Trinity College Dublin and subsequently a geriatrician in Scotland. Of their four surviving children two sons followed their parents into medicine. Joan always practiced her profession, albeit part-time when the children were small. She specialised in sexually transmitted diseases and family planning When they moved to Ireland she played a major founding role in the establishment of the Irish Family Planning Association at a time when contraception was virtually outside the law. She personally appeared in court to witness for the defence in the case of a woman who was being prosecuted for going to England to obtain such medical advice. The efforts of these early pioneers were eventually successful in establishing an efficient yet caring service for women within the limits prescribed by the law. Joan also had a flourishing general practice in Dublin and her patients were sorry to lose her when she moved back to Scotland.
Joan was highly intelligent and very well read . She gained an MA from the Open University in ancient Greek in her mid seventies but she concealed her erudition with a quiet manner and total lack of self advertisement. She was a constant support to many who relied on her for comfort and strength which was founded on her deeply held but rarely advertised, Christian faith. She was my first cousin and also my sister-in-law and we were almost the same age. In spite of having been diagnosed with a probably fatal illness,we decided to hold a joint 80th birthday party, hoping she would survive long enought to enjoy it. She did, just. She said 'I'm going to go out with a bang, even if it kills me' . She died three weeks later, but we will all remember that gallant happy figure cutting the cake and singing 'Auld lang syne'. She chose the Medical Foundation, of which she had been a supporter since 1993, to receive the birthday tributes and her family wished it to benefit from those remembering her death.
Elizabeth Wilson
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