The Old Diocesan Issue 13 - Magazine - Page 94
We remember them
We acknowledge and list here the deaths reported to us or that came to our attention over the past
year. They are grouped by year of leaving Bishops, with house, occupation, and place and date of
death (when known). Fuller versions of these and other obituaries can be found at odunion.com.
1944
1953
1961
1988
CAMPBELL Ian (G),
fisheries manager, in
Stellenbosch, 13 May 2026
CLOWES Richard (G),
banker, in Johannesburg,
16 July 2026
USSHER Patrick (W),
barrister and author,
in France, 5 June 2026
MILLER Russell (W), in
Cape Town, 21 August 2026
MORRIS Richard (F),
CA and tax law specialist,
in Queensland, Australia,
26 April 2026
TWIGGS John (O),
dentist, in Harare,
Zimbabwe, 2026
1970
STAFF
ELIAS Garwyn (G),
dentist, in Long Sutton,
the UK, 6 July 2026
ANDERSON Peter,
former Head of Bishops
Prep (1970–1984), in
Kenilworth, 3 April 2026
(see obituary)
1946
THOMPSON Blyth (S),
corporate commerce and
real estate professional, in
Cape Town, 14 April 2026
1950
PRYCE David (G), civil
engineer, in Cape Town,
3 September 2026
1952
BARRON Ian (S),
farmer, in Hermanus,
20 June 2026
1954
ACKERMANN John (F),
transplant surgeon and
pioneer, and medical
academic, in Tampa,
Florida, 7 April 2026
(see obituary)
DOMMISSE Michael (O),
in Perth, Australia,
19 November 2024
NEWTON Peter (O),
international trade and
transport businessman,
in Banhoek, 19 May 2026
JOHN
ACKERMANN
(1935–2026)
Educated at
Bishops and UCT
Medical School,
Dr John Richard
Ackermann came into surgery when
organ transplantation was still risky,
uncertain and often barely possible.
After training, he earned a research
fellowship at St Mary’s Hospital in
London, where he worked on organ
preservation and transplantation.
Later, he worked with Christiaan
Barnard on the earliest heart
transplant efforts. He was not just
present near the birth of modern
transplantation; he was one of the
90 | THE OLD DIOCESAN
1972
BULL Duncan (O), art
historian and curator, in
Cape Town, 1 July 2025
1975
MILLS Roderick (O), car
restoration specialist, in
Rondebosch, 18 May 2026
1979
McCALLUM Christopher
(O), insurance specialist
and company director, in
Cape Town, 11 April 2026
people doing the hard, technical,
unglamorous work that made it real.
When John moved to the US in
1969 with his wife Liz and two young
daughters Jean and Lucy, he brought
with him experience from the forefront
of transplant medicine. As Professor
of Experimental Surgery at Vanderbilt
University, he performed more than
100 kidney transplants. He moved to
Michigan State University, where he
established a transplant programme
and co-created what became Gift of
Life Michigan in 1971. He eventually
moved his family to Tampa, and he
performed the first successful living
kidney transplant in Florida in 1974.
John’s was a career of range and
persistence. He worked with pioneers
SPECIAL
MENTION
DAVID POTTER CBE,
tech pioneer, 28 June
2026 (see obituary)
As we went to print,
we received the news
that KEITH RICHARDSON
(1968O) had died. His
obituary will appear
online and in Issue 14.
in South Africa and London, carried
that to Vanderbilt, established a
programme at Michigan State, helped
create transplant infrastructure, and
helped to build one of the defining
transplant efforts in Florida. After
stepping away from surgery, he
continued in academia, teaching
at the University of South Florida
and shaping the people who would
carry transplant medicine forward.
He lived a remarkable life and leaves
behind a legacy worthy of gratitude,
admiration and respect.
John is survived by Liz, Jean and
Lucy, and his five grandchildren.
Adapted from a tribute by Liz
Ackermann, courtesy of Paul Cannon
(1952S). See odunion.com.
