Dr Christopher Grant, who was a GP in Pitlochry for 35 years, has died aged 91.
He was born in Dehra Dun, a hill station in northern India, in 1927 where his father was a public health specialist and his mother’s side of the family had been in the shellac business for several generations.
His paternal grandfather was a doctor in Blantyre and Dr Grant’s two sons followed him into medicine and his daughter was a nurse. His late wife, Audrey, died in 2017 and they also have two granddaughters.
Dr Grant trained at St Andrews University where he was to meet his future wife. Their marriage was delayed by his National Service where he served as a captain in the RAMC attached to the King’s African Rifles in Kenya.
He married Audrey in 1953 and he started a traineeship in general practice in Pitlochry.
He always considered himself very fortunate to be offered a partnership in the town after this and Pitlochry became his adopted home and he worked there until his retirement in 1989.
Dr Grant saw the birth of the NHS as a medical student in the late 1940s and saw the huge changes of modern medicine and general practice developed into the present era of group practices and team working.
His workload was varied and demanding at that time with a busy Cottage Hospital, attending road accidents on the A9 in addition to his usual day and night time work.
He was elected an Associate of the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Dr Grant had a strong sense of duty and served the community in many roles both seen and unseen. He was a past president of the Rotary and a Probus member.
He was a keen golfer serving as captain of Pitlochry Golf Course on three occasions and was made an honorary member after 58 years of membership in 2010.
Other interests were his garden and hillwalking and he had climbed all the Munros south of the Great Glen.
Dr Grant also was a keen bridge and badminton player and was a patron of the Pitlochry Festival Theatre. He was also on the board of Sunnybrae, Abbeyfield House in Pitlochry and on the committees of the Old Peoples Welfare and Arthritis Awareness.
In his retirement, he and his wife travelled extensively in France and especially in America where they visited family many times. He was married to Audrey for 64 years.
There will be a celebration of his life at Pitlochry Festival Theatre at 3pm on Thursday April 12. No flowers and no black tie at Dr Grant’s request.
