Newspaper Article 2001 – 10,000 babies delivered during career

Gerald Gleeson

10,000 babies delivered during career

After a number of years as a naval surgeon, Gerald Gleeson was at one time Napier’s only specialist obstetrician.

Gerald Gleeson, one of Napier’s best known and longest medical practitioners, died at home on November 5, aged 87.

Mr Gleeson worked as a general practitioner and obstetrician for almost 50 years. He retired from general practice at the age of 80 and for many years was the only obstetrician in Napier, delivering many thousands of babies during his career.

Mr Gleeson was born on October 9, 1914, in the family’s Napier home. He was to spend much of his life in the Napier Terrace-Chaucer Road North home, named Nenagh after his grandfather’s home town in Tipperary, Ireland.

He attended Napier Boys’ High School until the 1931 earthquake destroyed much of the school, finishing his secondary education at St Patrick’s College, Silverstream, near Wellington. An accomplished sportsman, he won trophies: for swimming and played in University’s Otago First 15.

After graduating from Otago medical school, he became a naval surgeon based on Motuihe Island in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf. The death of his mother brought him back to Hawke’s Bay, where he began general practice in 1947. Until the last few years of his career he had his rooms in Munster Chambers on Tennyson Street, built by his father after the earthquake.

In the early 1950s he travelled to England for post-graduate studies in obstetrics and gynaecology. His fiancée Isobel joined him later in London, and they were married on St Valentine’s Day 1953.

For many years Mr Gleeson was the only specialist obstetrician in Napier. He delivered about 10,000 babies during his career.

In 1982 he was made a fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in recognition of his distinguished career. He retired from obstetrics in 1980, but continued in general practice until 1994.

Although his commitment to his family and his practice limited his opportunities for other pursuits, he was an avid do-it-yourselfer. His often ingenious constructions were famous for their solid construction. He was known in the neighbourhood for his hedge cutting, and the equipment he built for the huge annual task of hand-trimming a two-storey-high macrocarpa hedge.

He is survived by Isobel, their son Jeremy, now living in Albuquerque, US, and two daughters, Margaret (Ming) and Helen, in Auckland. He had nine grandchildren.

A requiem mass for Mr Gleeson was held on November 9 at St Patrick’s Church in Napier.

Photo captions –

GERALD GLEESON with swimming trophies, around 1930.

GERALD GLEESON as a naval surgeon in 1946.