Deaths

PATRICK EVAN POOLE (A54) 23rd September 1935 – 4th February 2017 was the second of seven children of William and Lena Poole.  His father was a general practitioner and Patrick was strongly influenced by him in his decision to study medicine.  Patrick went to Ampleforth after his education at Gilling and Junior House. He excelled at Ampleforth both academically and in sports. He captained the First XV rugby team and was an exceptional long jumper.  Following Ampleforth he went up to Trinity College Cambridge to study medicine. After completing his studies he decided to take a sabbatical from medicine, having been accepted for further training at St Mary’s Hospital in London.

He did his national service with the Cheshire Regiment, which involved a tour of duty in Singapore. This experience left a deep impression on him and especially with respect to the other members of his platoon and their unique sense of humour and loyalty to one another.  It also fostered in him a great interest in military history.

Patrick met his Italian wife Igina Ghitti who was studying English in Ramsgate.  They married in Italy where they lived for some time before moving to Africa (Kenya and

Uganda) where Patrick worked for the British High Commission.  It was during this time that Patrick met a visiting professor of anatomy from the University of Galveston in Texas who invited him to continue his medical studies there.  Following graduation, he interned in El Paso following which he went into general practice in Houston.  In pursuit of his final choice of a career, he worked in Long Island New York for a few years before entering the US Air Force as a medical officer.  It seems that the condition of his enrolment was that he be stationed in Cambridgeshire.  He was stationed in Alconbury Air Force Base and he lived in Holywell.  Upon his return to the USA he again went into general practice in Florida for some time before finally settling in Stony Brook on Long Island New York.  He decided to specialise in Neurology at the University of New York in Stony Brook and practiced there for the rest of his career.  He loved to teach and was often voted as the best teacher by his residents.

Patrick never lost sight of his formative years at Ampleforth which ingrained in him his deep Catholic faith.  He was undeterred by the growing slide of the western world into secular humanism, which if anything strengthened his faith.  At the same time he enjoyed life to the full and was always great fun to be with.  He had a sharp intellect yet preferred to fall back on his sense of humour in conversation.  He never really signed on to the sway of the computer age and regarded the internet, cellular phones and answer phones as inconvenient intrusions.  Consequently he rarely resorted to them. 

His main focuses in life were his religion, his family and his profession.  He is survived by his wife Igina, his three sons Sean, Hubert and Paul, and seven grandchildren.

Patrick’s health started to deteriorate in the middle of 2016.  Although the reasons for this were not well understood, it was possibly due to complications of Lyme disease (prevalent in Long Island), which he contracted as early as 2014.  After several months it was clear that he wouldn’t return to his former good health and on 4th February 2017 he passed away suddenly and peacefully.  During the summer, after a simple ceremony conducted by his parish priest, his ashes were dispersed into the waters off the northern shore of Long Island Sound in Stony Brook, a place adored by Patrick and his family.

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Rest in eternal peace.