It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Associate Professor Arnold Gillespie on 28 June 2023, with some words from Debra Millikan.

At Arnold’s funeral, Francis Coombe, President of Voluntary Assisted Dying SA said: “The beauty of Arnold will always be with us. A legacy of love and compassion, of intellectual rigour, tenacity, and high achievement”.

Arnold was born in Sydney on 23 September 1936. Even as a primary school student his abilities were recognised, resulting in him attending Sydney Boys High School, a school for gifted students.

At the University of Sydney, he completed a science degree before commencing medicine. Post-graduate studies saw him acting as a ship’s doctor on his way to the UK to undertake his MRCOG examinations. Before leaving for the UK, he married Dr Nesta McLean. They had been medical students together. Sadly, Nesta died in 1990.

For the MRCOG exam there were two examining doctors. As it turned out, one of them was a mentor of his from Sydney. Professor Devonish Meers from Crown Street Hospital excused himself and that left Arnold alone with Professor John (known as Jack) Dewhurst. After several medical questions Professor Dewhurst started talking about the cricket – that meant Arnold had either done very well or very badly.

Not only had he done well, but shortly after, he was offered a lectureship at the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of London, taking Arnold down his academic path of research and teaching.

Arnold wrote the seminal paper on the induction of labour using Prostaglandin E2 and up until the week before he went to hospital, he received notifications of its use as a reference in other academic papers.

When he left the UK, he took up a position at the University of Adelaide where his focus became more that of teaching. He was a pioneer in computer assisted learning, travelling again to study more about developing these programs.

Postgraduate education became a large part of Arnold’s work and he and department colleague Ossie Petrucco learned from luminaries such as Jacque Donnez and Bruno von Herendael, bringing home the knowledge required to introduce gynaecological laparoscopy to Australia.

After retirement in 1999, Arnold travelled to Europe with Deb, his second wife, and they spent three years travelling in a motorhome around Europe and Scandinavia. This had been a long-term goal of Arnold’s. Returning home, they then travelled around Australia as grey nomads for 18 months.

As well as serving as Vice President of both the SA Voluntary Euthanasia Society and Voluntary Assisted Dying between 2013-2019, he was National Convenor of Doctors for Assisted Dying Choice for 15 years. During that time, he oversaw the growth of the organisation from a small splinter group to – and I quote – “…a medical advocacy powerhouse that has played an important role in promoting the adoption of VAD legislation in every State of Australia.” (Dr Richard Lugg, Doctors for Assisted Dying Choice).

In the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours, in recognition of his significant service to medicine, particularly as an advocate for voluntary assisted dying, Arnold was posthumously awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM). This recognition highlights his unwavering dedication to advancing medical practices and patient rights, especially in end-of-life care.

A loving husband and father, a caring physician and an enjoyer of life, Arnold was able to use the service for which he fought so long and hard. He ended his life with the assistance of Voluntary Assisted Dying at the Royal Adelaide Hospital on 28 June 2023 with his loving family surrounding and supporting his decision.

A life well lived.