Frank Sullivan

Frank Sullivan OAM FRACS FRANZCO
14 February 1931 - 20 March 2016
Ophthalmologist

Francis Patrick Sullivan was endowed with more than his fair share of natural abilities. He was educated at St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, where in his senior year, he was School Captain, Swimming Captain, First XI captain, First XV 15 captain, a feat not repeated since.

He graduated from the University of Queensland Medical School in 1954. He undertook his residency at the Royal Brisbane Hospital and was an eye registrar at both the Royal Brisbane and Princess Alexandra hospitals, in Brisbane. It was about the time that he met and married his wife, Colleen. As was common at the time, he undertook postgraduate ophthalmology training at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, working his way in both directions as a ship's surgeon.

Upon returning to Brisbane, he entered both public and private practice, following his passion for both medical student and ophthalmic registrar training. He loved people. During his 50 years of College involvement, three generations of students and registrars benefited from his teaching and wisdom. I vividly remember attending his clinic at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, as a fifth year medical student.

Frank was intimately involved with the College at a local, state and federal level. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Queensland ophthalmology registrar training program. Frank Sullivan was a registrar supervisor, College examiner, a member and later chair of the Queensland Qualification and Education Committee. He strove to develop an esprit de corps within specialty. Many was the time that registrars would sit on his back veranda attending a tutorial, afterwards enjoying an occasional beer!

He served as Chairman of the Continuing Education Committee and was the Chairman of the Part II Court of Examiners. He served as Vice President, before becoming President of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) in 1988- 1989. Over the years he developed a rich network of ophthalmic colleagues both within RANZCO, as well as in the United Kingdom and the United States. He was held in high esteem by his colleagues. I recall excitedly reporting to my wife that I had been asked to join his practice, Terrace Eye Centre, which he had co-founded many years before.

In the latter years of his practice, he was a member of the RANZCO Training Post Inspectorate and Chairman of the Queensland Compensation Tribunal (Q Comp).

In recognition of a lifetime of service to RANZCO, he was awarded our highest honour, The College Medal in 2010. For his services to the community in the field of ophthalmology, he was awarded the Medal in the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Australia Day honours list of 2011. He was a mentor to many young ophthalmologists. On one occasion, when I sought his advice regarding career direction, he responded, "… to thine self be true". He loved language.

Frank enjoyed a long and happy marriage to his wife Colleen. His eight children, Catherine, Timothy, Louise, Joanna, Fiona, Gabrielle, Harriet and Annabel were cosseted and encouraged by his love and example. He loved his family, his profession and life. He was a man who lived by his credo and will be missed by many.

This obituary was provided by Dr Bradley Horsburgh,  President, RANZCO