Surgeon, Scholar, Gentleman

Dr Ronald 'Ron' Thomas Todd. Dr Todd was the archetype of the older general surgeon before the advent of specialties within surgery. As such he was required to have a greater area of expertise and competency. To this end, the experience he gained in busy UK and US hospitals and at the Women's and the Prince Henry hospitals in Sydney was invaluable. His skills were further honed during seven years in Broken Hill.

Dr Todd became the senior surgeon at Ipswich Hospital in the mid '60s. In this capacity he served the Ipswich community conscientiously for more than 25 years until his mandatory retirement from the public service. But he continued in private practice and at St Andrew's Hospital, Ipswich until he retired as a surgeon in 1996. Still keen to work, he took a position as a GP in the maximum security jail at Wacol, a job he enjoyed greatly and which earned him the respect of both inmates and guards.

In 2009, Dr Todd finally retired from medicine, aged 83, concluding a career which spanned more than six decades and during which he dedicated himself to providing excellence in patient care. Ipswich was indeed fortunate to have such a doctor.