Col John Alexander Beswick, M.D., C.D., FRCS (C) (Ret’d)

We regret to advise of the death of Colonel John Alexander Beswick, M.D., C.D., FRCS (C) (Ret’d) in Toronto ON at Sunnybrook Hospital, where he was a resident, on 10 October 2003 at the age of 87 years.

John was born in Toronto and was a fifth-generation Torontonian. He was a veteran of the Second World War who served over five years in the Royal Canadian Engineers.  After the war, he attended medical school and graduated in 1950. John joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps and served for a year and a half in Korea.  He then studied ophthalmology and became a specialist in 1959. During his military career, John served as Chief of Ophthalmology of Canadian Forces Hospital, Kingston ON and the National Defence Medical Centre in Ottawa ON.  Upon retiring from the Army, he became Chief of Ophthalmology at Scarborough Centenary Hospital, West Hill ON for 14 years.  Dr. Beswick took a very active part in the promotion of the EYE Bank in the early '50s and '60s at Sunnybrook Hospital, Scarborough Centenary, and other Toronto Hospitals providing a steady flow of donated eyes for transplants and research. He retired in 1987.

John will be interred at St. James Cemetery Toronto in the plot owned by the Beswick family since 1874. ^{{dcJul19gd} [zpp, zsd]}