John R Augustine

Born and raised in Kitchener, Ontario, John Augustine was an Honours Medical Graduate from the University of Western Ontario, 1952.    After two years of intern training in Toronto, in 1954 Dr. Augustine commenced worked in general practice with the Spence Clinic in Thunder Bay before returning to Toronto to complete training in the speciality of General Internal Medicine.    He returned to the Spence Clinic in Thunder Bay in 1959 and worked as a specialist in Internal Medicine including the management of addictions until his retirement in1994. He was a founding member of the Thunder Bay branch of the Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario and was on its Board of Directors for 12 years and set up the first Methadone treatment outreach for addicts in the late 1980s.   Dr. Augustine was involved in undertakings that changed health care education and delivery in Northwestern Ontario.  He was President of McKellar's Medical Staff from 1968 to 1970 and was the Founding Chair of the Cardiac Stress, Palliative Care, and Ethics Committees at McKellar and later participated in the Fund Raising Committee for the construction of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. John Augustine was very concerned with the shortage of doctors in Northern Ontario and devoted himself to the recruitment and retention of doctors in Northwestern Ontario.  Commencing in 1970 he was the Founding Chair of the Northern Ontario Medical Program (NOMP) which he and others developed with McMaster University.  The program brought over 50 medical students per year to Thunder Bay and, over the years of his involvement, Dr. Augustine personally tutored 88 medical students and residents.  Commencing in 1999 he was Lakehead University`s Chair of the 3 year process which resulted in the creation of the Northern Ontario Medical School.   He  was very proud to receive a standing ovation from the medical school’s charter graduating class as he was made a Fellow of Lakehead University at the spring convocation in 2009.      Dr. Augustine served on The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada from 1980 to 1999, he acted as an oral examiner testing post-graduate Internal Medicine students from universities across Canada, sat on the Accreditation Committee and other committees and he served 4 years on Executive of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada including a term as Vice President (Medicine).  In 2000 became a Senior Member of the Canadian Medical Association.   John Augustine participated on countless volunteer boards and committees and was a generous patron of arts and culture.  He was a founding member and longstanding supporter of the Thunder Bay Art Gallery and the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society. John Augustine was a devoted husband to Annette, his wife of 62 years and a fun and loving father and grandfather to his children, David (Allison) and Philip (Efharis) and grandchildren, Alexandra and John-Philip.    John Augustine was an intelligent, thoughtful and cheerful man who gave generously of himself to his profession and to his community and made them better than he found them.    John was loved by his family and friends who will cherish his memory. There will be a memorial visitation at the Sargent & Son Funeral Home, 21 Court Street N., Thunder Bay, Ontario on Saturday April 19, 2014 from 2 to to 4:00 p.m. and from 7 to 8:00 p.m.    A memorial service will be held in the Sargent & Son Funeral Chapel on Monday April 21, 2014 at 11:30 a.m. with Rev. Joyce Yanishewski presiding.   The reception will follow immediately after the service.    Those wishing to make a donation may wish to consider the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society; The Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre; The Northern Ontario School of Medicine or a charity of their choice. Online condolences may be made at <a href="http://www.sargentandson.com" target="_blank">www.sargentandson.com</a>.

John R Augustine

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