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Emeritus Consultants Biographies
Tom Ahern was born in 1919 the third of five children of Thomas and Nora Ahern who were the founders of Ahern's Department Store. Tom was educated at Mary's Mount Kalamunda and then Christian Brothers College in St Georges Terrace. He graduated in Medicine in Melbourne in 1942 and then completed his specialist qualifications there. He met his wife Irene Savage, then a nurse in Bruce Rock Hospital and later commenced specialist practice in Perth. He is remembered fondly as a congenial and interested teacher. His own hearing impairment gave him great empathy with his patients. His interests included care of those at Bindoon Boys' Town and the Claremont Football Club. Tom showed sporting prowess in tennis, squash, golf and cricket plus he was an ardent follower of the Sport of Kings but also a nature lover and was particularly interested in wildflowers and native birds. His professional career was cruelly and prematurely terminated by a major dominant hemisphere stroke. Tom and his wife had seven children including Tom junior who became a veterinary surgeon and Denis a physiotherapist. Tom Ahern died of cancer in March 1981 but will be remembered as an archetypical specialist consultant of the post World War 2 period before the present era of immediate focus on specialization after graduation. |
