Kenneth Edgeworth Ussher
4816 Aged 91
Kenneth Edgeworth Ussher MBChB (Otago) DTM&H (London) FRCP (Edinburgh) was born in Timaru on 8 October 1925 to George and Esme Ussher, and was the older brother to Colin George Beauchamp Ussher (5158) who predeceased him. While at College he was in Flower’s House from 1938 to 1942. He was in the Chapel Choir for five years, the 1st XI in his last year, and was a successful gymnast and boxer. His time at College was best summarised in a testimonial given to him by the headmaster – RJ Richards – on leaving school:“He was a boy of excellent character. Not only was he industrious in school and zealous in all the usual school activities, but also by his uprightness and sincerity of purpose he won the respect of all and had a fine influence on his contemporaries. He was a prefect, represented the school in the 1st XI at cricket and was, as well, an outstanding gymnast and boxer.” On leaving school, Kenneth wished to become a vet but his father (a doctor in Timaru) agreed only on the basis that he did medicine first. He graduated from Otago Medical School in 1949 by which point six years of university had cooled his ardour for a further four years of vet school, so he entered general practice in Timaru. In 1955, he joined the New Zealand Army Medical Corps. He spent the next 10 years in the army. As well as various postings around New Zealand, he spent 18 months in London and Edinburgh doing postgraduate training, and then two years in Malaya during the Malayan emergency in the early 1960s.
Ken left the army in 1964 and joined the University of Canterbury as the first director of the University’s Student Health and Counselling Service, where he remained until he retired in 1987. In the early 1970s, he became involved with the organisation for the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games. He was a member of the Organising Committee, and was the Chair of the Medical Committee for what is still regarded as one of the most successful Commonwealth Games held. In his retirement, he devoted a huge amount of time to College. Among other things, he chaired the Committee that organised the first ever College Fair in 1990 (for which he was delighted to receive a Senior Honours Tie from the Headmaster) and he was one of a number of Old Boys who assisted JD MacFarlane in researching and compiling “To Battle, 1939-1945: Old Boys of Christ’s College Who Lost Their Lives in the Second World War”, which was published in 2004. Throughout his life, he maintained his interests in sport and other outdoor activities and his love of animals. His greatest love though, was always for the people around him and especially his family. He is survived by his wife Christine, his daughter Philippa Innes, his sons Tony (8033),James (11044) and Christopher (11203), 11 grandchildren (including Richard Innes (11134), Mark Innes (12055), Alistair Ussher (11659) and John Ussher (12129)) and 14 great-grandchildren.
Chronicle 2017
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