About Us

Dr. Hugh Gorwill
1938 - 2023

The Museum wishes to acknowledge the passing of Dr. Robert Hugh Gorwill, who passed away on November 20, 2023, in his 85th year.

For many years, Dr. Gorwill was an avid supporter and volunteer at the Museum of Health Care at Kingston. Dr. Gorwill joined the Boad of Directors at the Museum in 2011 and remained a dedicated member until early 2020, most notably acting as the President & Board Chair from 2013-2017. Dr. Gorwill was close friends with the Museum's Founder, Dr. Jim Low, as well as good friends with many of the Museum's other board and committee members, both before and after his work with the Museum.

Dr. Gorwill was an accomplished and respected medical professional, securing an MD in 1962 (Western U) before joining the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department at Queen's University in 1970, ultimately becoming Department Head from 1985-95. After his retirement in 2004 (Professor Emeritus), colleagues of Hugh would always mention his cosistent expertise in teaching and care for his patients.

A full obituary for Hugh can be found via the Kingston Whig Standard here.

Dr. Henry Dinsdale
1931 - 2023

The Museum wishes to acknowledge the passing of Dr. Henry Dinsdale, who passed away on May 30, 2023, in his 91^st year.

Dr. Dinsdale was an avid supporter of the Museum of Health Care for more than 20 years and was a close friend and professional colleague of Dr. Jim Low, the Museum’s Founder. Dr. Dinsdale served as a Board Member of the Museum from 2004 to 2011, a Member (and Past Chair) of the Museum’s National Advisory Board, and was involved in several Committees and special projects. The Museum owes a debt of gratitude to Dr. Dinsdale, as his work on these Boards and Committees, combined with his support as a Member and Patron, lead to the growth and sustainability of the Museum as a whole.

Beyond his work with the Museum, Dr. Dinsdale was a celebrated and distinguished healthcare professional. Among this lengthy list of accomplishments are highlights that include his extensive work with Queen’s University from 1963 to 1993, Physician-in-Chief of Kingston General Hospital and Hotel Dieu Hospital from 1983 – 1993, and his appointment as a Member of the Order of Canada in 1999.

In his obituary written by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Royal College Past-President Richard K. Reznick noted, “Henry Dinsdale was the quintessential quadruple threat, with outstanding contributions to clinical medicine, research, teaching and medical leadership.”

A full obituary for Henry can be found via the Kingston Whig-Standard here and via the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada here.

Margery Low
1925 - 2022

The Museum of Health Care wishes to acknowledge the passing of Margery Low, who passed away on October 3, 2022 in her 97th year.

While much can be found on Museum founding documents regarding Dr. James Low, it is just as important to recognize Margery, Dr. Low’s partner of 63 years, who also played an important role in founding of the Museum of Health Care, from the early 1990s onwards. Margery was essential in many of the early planning, document creation, program design and administrative stages at the Museum, and its inception was almost certainly a dual-effort, often heavily supported in the background. We owe much of the continued success of the Museum of Health Care to Margery for this tireless support.

A full obituary for Margery can be found here.

The Celebration of Life service was held at St. Thomas’ Anglican Church, Kingston, on Oct 30, 2022, and a recording of the event can be found here.

Dr. Walter Rosser
1941 - 2022

The Museum of Health Care wishes to acknowledge the passing of Dr. Walter Rossed, who passed away on Sunday, October 2, in his 81st year,

Dr. Rosser was a very strong supporter of the Museum of Health Care, both during his time of the Museum’s Board of Directors from 2012 to 2022 (during which he sat on both the Museum’s Finance Committee and as the Board Secretary), as well as individually since the Museums start.

Dr. Rosser was an essential part of the Museum’s Governing body, bringing his truly impressive set of skills and experience to the table. His work as Chair of four family medicine departments in Ontario (University of Ottawa; McMaster University; University of Toronto and Queen's University), his 2008 lifetime achievement award from the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), and his Order of Canada (2010) designation all combined to allow Dr. Rosser to offer unique, experienced and thoughtful input into Museum programming and direction.

As his Obituary states, Dr. Rosser was a “passionate physician and defender of Canada's public health care system”, and the Museum of Health Care could not agree with more. We thank Dr. Rosser for his tireless contributions

The full obituary, including a further detailed list of Dr. Rosser’s many accomplishments as a medical leader, can be found here.

The memorial service was held at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Kingston, on Oct 22, 2022, and a recording of the event can be found here.

Paul Robertson
1961 - 2022

The passing of Paul Robertson has brought sadness to those that knew him, and the heritage community has lost one of its brightest stars.

Paul was the Curator at the Museum of Health Care from 2004-2011. As an organization, we are grateful to Paul for the hard work and dedication he put into the exhibits he designed, his advocacy of healthcare history, and his continued support of our work. He will be sorely missed.

A few of those in the Museum of Health Care community have been kind enough to share some thoughts about Paul.

The passing of Paul Robertson is not just a loss for our museum, but the entire heritage sector in Canada. As the Curator at the Museum of Health Care, Committee member, and indirectly as the Curator for the City of Kingston, Paul’s passion helped us bring Canada’s healthcare story to life by inspiring an interest in culture, heritage and the history of healthcare in Canada. His legacy can still be seen and felt at the museum today. As a person he was a joy to be around. Paul always had a good story to tell, exuded self-confidence and was always ‘in character.’ We will miss his intelligence, his energy and his joyous approach to life.

Ian Fraser, Past President, Museum of Health Care

Paul was my wonderful boss for four years as the Curator at the Museum of Health Care. Paul's vibrancy, passion, good humor and camaraderie made everyone’s day while working here. He was not just a guy in an office, he was a great leader, great person, a gentleman and I looked forward to working with Paul every day.

I was very pleased to see that after leaving his position at this museum, he blossomed into wider and greater areas of the museum world and one of those achievements was to be the President of the Ontario Museums Association. He was destined to do greater things.

The other day I was going through some files and saw Paul’s distinctive elegant handwriting on the label, and that made me smile just remembering him. Paul was also known for his various kilts! He would wear them during hot summer days. He always wore his full Scottish Robertson plaid kilt for all of the KGH School of Nursing Alumni reunions.  He is still in the building when I see the last of his first exhibits, the Nurses Gallery, and the last of his life in the mesh surround created around his head for his cancer treatments.

Years later he moved to my town (Gananoque) and I occasionally cat sit his six cats while he was out and about.  I miss him and he will be missed by everyone.

Kathy Karkut, Collections Manager, Museum of Health Care

When I first became involved with the Museum of Health Care Paul was the most welcoming and enthusiastic and kind person to me. From him I learned the importance of looking back to see where we have come in medicine, as that gives us the foundation to move forward. He is such a loss to us and to his friends.

Sherri Robertson, Chair, Kingston General Hospital Nursing Alumnae Association

Paul Robertson possessed curatorial intelligence of a high order. An example of his wit and creativity is the MOTour Portrait Exhibition he curated during Movember at Kingston City Hall in 2014 and 2015.  This annual campaign supports awareness of prostate and testicular cancer and men’s mental health. Paul explains his thinking behind the exhibition thus, "The portrait subjects display such a variety of facial hair styles, we thought discussing them would be a fun, engaging way to introduce visitors to the gentlemen represented and their significance in Kingston's history”. The city worthies - all men of course - sported facial hair teased, waxed into styles some of which Paul himself had had fun with. In retrospect, these Movember exhibitions gain added poignancy given the cause of Paul’s death earlier this month.

Felicity Pope, Director, Museum of Health Care

The Museum of Health Care wishes to acknowledge the passing of Dr. Patrick (Ralph) Crawford, who passed away on July 13, 2020 at the age of 92 in the Delta Hospital, Delta, BC.

Ralph and his wife, Olga, were very active supporters and members of the Museum of Health Care, perhaps most notably facilitating a donation of  over 2,500 dentistry-related objects (as well as funds to process and conserve them) to the Museum, creating the Dr. Ralph and Mrs. Olga Crawford Dental Collection, which has since been made available free to view online (here).

Ralph was active in dental association affairs, serving as President of both the Manitoba and Canadian Dental associations. He is the only dentist in Canada to be recognized with Honorary Memberships in both organizations, and was a fellow of the International College of Dentists, the American College of Dentists, the Pierre Fauchard Society, the Academy of Dentistry International, and the Royal College of Dentists of Canada.

Ralph was an invaluable resource in many dental exhibits done by the Museum of Health Care, known as the go-to historian for dental history by several Curators in their work and named as a Museum Curator Emeritus in recognition. His text, "The Canadian Dental Association 1902-2002 - A Century of Service", a series of articles outlining the CDA's first 100 years, was also used.

In recognition of his work, Ralph was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada  in 2019 for his long-lasting achievements as a clinician, educator, and historian in the field of dentistry. 

The Museum of Health Care will remember Dr. Crawford for his help in countless projects, a near-endless source of information on the history of dentistry in Canada and ultimately a terrific supporter of our orginization. Our condolences and sympathies go out to the Crawford family.

(Dr. Crawford's full obituary in the Vancouver Sun can be found here.)

Alan McNabb Grant
1940 - 2019

The Museum of Health Care acknowledges with profound sadness, the sudden passing of Alan Grant at the age of 79.

Alan was a steadfast friend and proud advocate for the Museum, serving as Board Member for more than a decade (2001 to 2013), with nine of those years (2004 to 2013) as the Museum’s President & Board Chair.

He was also involved with many other organizations within the Greater Kingston community, serving as Chairman of APEO (Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario), as Board Chair of Kingston General Hospital, Executive Director and President of Hospice Kingston, Chairman of the Marine Museum of Kingston, President of the Kingston Symphony Association, President of the Gallery Association (Agnes Etherington Arts Centre) and founding member of Orchestra Kingston, which began as chamber music in his home.

An avid athlete, he was a lifelong sailor – on board his yacht Peregrine – while also enjoying swimming, cycling, and speed skating.

Loving husband to Janis Cameron Grant (nee Blue), he was the proud father of Gillian and Jennifer Grant and attentive grandfather to Sierra, Alexis and Océanne.

The Museum of Health Care remembers Alan fondly with gratitude for his many years of loyal service and dedicated leadership. His presence in our midst will be truly missed.

A full obituary can be found here.