Francis Vincent Macaulay (died March 21, 2016, aged 91)
Obituary provided by Gemma Nohilly
Two life-long friends who were born in neighbouring counties, graduated with medical degrees from Queen’s and immigrated to the USA died within 3 weeks of each other in the spring of 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Paul McKenna MD and Frank Macaulay MD were proud Irish men and proud Queen’s men. They were both active and very supportive in the Queen’s USA West Coast Alumni group, attended all functions and even offered their homes to host events.They were kind, compassionate and unassuming men and will be sadly missed by friends, family and the medical world of Southern California.
Frank Macaulay was born September 19, 1924 in the Cushendall. He was one of 10 surviving children, attended one-room Glenann School, St Malachy's College, and Queen’s University where he earned a medical degree (MB BCh BAO) in 1948.
After a Houseman's year in England, Frank sailed around Africa to Australia as a ship's surgeon and then spent 2 years as a physician in the Canadian army before moving to the United States to do an anesthesiology residency at the University of Minnesota. There he met his wife, a beautiful young nurse named Virginia Clair.
The Macaulays moved to Los Angeles and their 56-yr marriage produced 8 children (4 doctors, 3 lawyers and a dentist) and a diverse and rich network of friends including many Hollywood celebrities.
Frank was a voracious reader with an incredibly diverse array of interests. He had an amazing, near-photographic memory. As a child he had committed to memory a great breadth of English and Irish poetry which he could recite effortlessly even to his last few weeks of life, as Alzheimer's gradually took his famous memory.
Frank was a dedicated provider, working long, difficult and stressful hours at St Jude Hospital in Fullerton while taking voluntary calls at two other hospitals in Whittier to earn more money. He paid for his children to attend private schools and made sure to provide cultural and linguistic opportunities for them by setting up an exchange program with families in Guadalajara, Mexico, which developed into great family friendships that are active to this day. He sent many of his children to Ireland to deepen their ties to their Irish family and heritage.
Frank loved the mountains, hiking and fishing. The family spent many happy days whitewater kayaking in Northern California and Oregon and skiing at Mammoth Mountain, where they had a second home.
Frank passed away on March 21, 2016.
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