Wimmera medical icon to be celebrated
Former Natimuk doctor, personality and regional medical icon Dr Roderic Sutherland AM has died, aged 90.
His death prompted an outpouring of comments from people across the Wimmera on The Weekly Advertiser’s social media Facebook page.
A memorial service to celebrate the life of Dr Sutherland will be at Natimuk Showground at 2pm, Friday.
Dr Sutherland was born on March 7, 1928 in Geelong and qualified to study medicine at Melbourne University.
He met his wife Barbara Clifford at the Royal Children’s Hospital and they were together for 60 years.
Dr Sutherland settled at Natimuk in 1959, falling in love with the town’s people and the Wimmera community.
Long-term patients commented that Dr Sutherland was always available and would never leave the practice unattended.
In 2017, West Wimmera Health Service dedicated a wing of Natimuk Nursing Home to Dr Sutherland and his wife.
Details from Dr Sutherland’s eulogy revealed he was born a son of Annie and Hector Sutherland and grew up in Melbourne, visiting country relatives at Swan Hill and other regional areas.
During the Second World War his family moved to Olinda on Mt Dandenong to avoid a possible bombing of Melbourne, and during his schooling had teachers that encouraged students to apply for scholarships.
Dr Sutherland obtained a scholarship from Wesley College and qualified to study at Melbourne University.
Because of a large number of ex-servicemen also entering the university in 1946, Dr Sutherland spent his first year studying at an air force base in Mildura.
After completing his studies, he spent 1953 and 1954 at Mooroopna and 1956 at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne.
Dr Sutherland met Barbara Clifford at the Royal Children’s Hospital and the pair joined in a partnership that lasted 60 years.
From 1957 to 1960, Dr Sutherland was occupied with regional locum duties, getting married, working as a doctor on a cargo ship to England, working in Watford, Exteter and Taunton. He and Barbara also had their first child, Ian, in 1958, followed by Anna, 1959, and Bruce, 1960.
Dr Sutherland settled in Natimuk where he quickly established a strong rapport with the district community and explored a vast range of interests.
Family members said Dr Sutherland had given considerable service to the Natimuk and broader community but the Natimuk hospital and community had given back ‘much more’ to him and his family.