Dr. William Ian Hay, MB BS CCFP FCFP

Ian was born in Chopwell, northern England and attended the HMS Conway School from 1941-43.  Upon graduation, he joined the merchant marine and served as a navigation officer until 1947. Ian immediately enrolled in Durham University Medical School, graduating in 1953 and joining a rural practice in Rothbury, England.

In 1955, Ian married Anne Bittermann and they began their life of adventure by emigrating to Canada in 1956.  Ian worked in primary care in Manitoba and Saskatchewan before settling in Madsen, northern Ontario. He continued to develop as an excellent clinician and he and Anne became involved in the community and started their family. They explored new opportunities in 1964 when they moved to Burlington, Ontario where Ian and Patrick Sweeney eventually formed the Caroline Medical Group. Ian continued to practice until he retired in 1992.

Anne and Ian had three children Jane (Richard (d.), Joelle), David (Brenda, Leighton, Madsen) and Mary (Steve, Riley, Adrian) and family was central to Ian’s life. He initiated fun family vacations skiing, camping and travelling back to England.  Ian loved to swim and used to begin the day on holidays with a hearty, “last one in the lake is a rotten egg” while taking off in a mad dash down to dive off a local dock. He lived life big and you couldn’t help but be caught up in his enthusiasm.

Ian had a life of curiosity and learning. He loved his work as a general practitioner and looked for ways to try new things and improve care, both for individual patients and the health care system and social supports in the community. Ian loved to interact with new doctors and he was a great mentor for many practitioners. He conducted research with university partners into supports for seniors living alone and conducted groundbreaking research into the education and integration of nurse practitioners into primary care.

Service to the community was central to Ian’s sense of self.  He was instrumental in founding an Anglican Church in Red Lake, was active in St. Christopher’s Anglican Church in Burlington and St. John the Divine in Victoria. Ian provided support to several senior projects and a local food box program. Ian wrote letters and lobbied governments to ensure those who needed supports would have them.

Ian had two other passions – golf and gardening. Twice-a-week golf games were enjoyed with friends at Burlington Golf and Country Club. Any free evenings included a garden wander to water plants and pull weeds. Weekends included many large landscaping projects over the years.

In 2014, Anne and Ian moved to Victoria; no small feat for two seniors! They both settled into their new west coast life with the same sense of openness and engagement that has marked their time together.

Ian’s health had been failing for the last few months. He was determined to enjoy Christmas as all the family was home and in true Ian form, he did what he said he would do.  He loved his family and that love lives on.

In lieu of flowers, donations encouraged to The Church of St. John the Divine and Royal Jubilee Hospital.

A Memorial Service will be held on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018,  2 pm, with a visitation to be held prior at 1.15 pm at The Church of St. John the Divine, 1611 Quadra Street, Victoria, BC.

Condolences may be offered to the family below.

McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com

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