A well-known doctor who treated patients across the north-east for more than a quarter of a century has died at the age of 87.
Dr John Sutherland, a popular general practitioner in the Boddam and Peterhead areas, died peacefully on Christmas Eve at his home in Ellon.
Dr Sutherland was born in Hamilton in Lanarkshire in 1929 and was the eldest of three brothers. He attended school at Hamilton Academy, as the prelude to serving with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders for his national service, which took him to such far-flung places as Palestine and Eritrea.
He subsequently returned to the land of his birth and did so just the day before the start of term at Glasgow University, where he studied medicine and graduated with an MB, ChB in 1955.
He worked at Cresswell Maternity Hospital in Dumfries, where he met his wife Margaret, a midwife, and the couple were married in 1957 before spending nearly 60 years together.
In that same year, he also obtained a diploma in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Thereafter, he pursued his dream of a career in general practice, with Dr Sutherland becoming an assistant at a practice in Lincoln.
In 1959, as if to illustrate his peripatetic nature, he moved all the way to Sierra Leone to become the sole medical officer for an iron ore mine in Pepel, and in 1962 he returned to Scotland as an assistant in the Cruden Bay practice.
He was appointed as principal in the Boddam practice, taking over from Dr James Fairweather Milne, in 1963, and worked there and at Peterhead Health Centre for the next 26 years, until he retired in 1989.
During that period, Dr Sutherland was also a medical officer for RAF Buchan, a post he continued after retiring from the NHS.
The sick quarters were named the Dr John Sutherland Medical Centre in his honour. And his contribution to the base was recognised by the award of an MBE for services to the RAF in 1989.
While in Boddam, the doctor pursued his interests in travelling, and took his caravan all around Scotland.
He enjoyed spending time by the seaside and journeying around all manner of coastal areas, and kept a small motorboat in Boddam harbour.
After retiring, Dr Sutherland and his wife moved to Ellon, where he took a keen interest in learning Gaelic into his later years.
He is survived by his wife Margaret, his two brothers, Roy and Bruce, and his three daughters Allison, Fiona and Gillian.
He is also survived by his five grandchildren.
