The medical community was stunned and saddened by the untimely death of Dr Vince Antico on 19 October 1995 at the age of 44 years. Vince was the youngest of three brothers and proud of his Italian ancestry. He went to school at Waverley College in Sydney, graduated in Medicine from the University of NSW in 1974 and trained in Internal Medicine at the Prince of Wales Hospital from 1974 to 1978. He passed the FRACP (Part 1) in 1978, undertook two years of training in Nuclear Medicine at Prince of Wales Hospital and then spent 1981 at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. His first Staff Specialist post was as Nuclear Medicine Physician at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth and Clinical Lecturer in Medicine at the University of Western Australia.

Following three happy and successful years in Perth, Vince returned to Sydney and commenced work at Westmead Hospital in October 1985 as Physician in Nuclear Medicine and Diagnostic Ultrasound. In 1988 he became the Deputy Director of the department. His special interest was Nuclear Cardiology at which he excelled and which led to a parallel interest in Echocardiography. He grasped new developments very quickly and was responsible for expanding and implementing new services. Due to his personality and great charm, he forged both professional and personal links with medical and paramedical staff. When working at Westmead was no longer a challenge he looked for new horizons and opportunities and at the end of 1993 entered full time private practice on the Central Coast, working in both Gosford and Wyong until the time of his death.

Vince was very popular amongst his peers because he was always helpful, hardworking and able to achieve things with a minimum of fuss. He played an active part in the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine and Association of Physicians in Nuclear Medicine. He was also a keen member of the Australian Society of Paediatric Imaging, the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, the American Society of Echocardiography and the Australasian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine, of which he was the Secretary of the NSW Branch between 1990 and 1992. Vince was a regular attendee at nuclear medicine, ultrasound and cardiology conferences in Australia and overseas and regularly contributed papers of high standard. A whole generation of nuclear medicine, radiology and cardiology registrars can thank Vince for the time he spent enthusiastically teaching them and advancing their knowledge and expertise.

Vince will always be remembered for his outgoing nature, boundless energy and vigour and natural gift to put people at ease in his company and make new friends quickly. He was the confidant of many and had a genuine love and concern for others. He had many interests in addition to medicine, most notable his love of sport, especially golf. He was a devoted family man with great love for his wife Lucinda whom he married in 1980 and their three children, Jacqueline, Daniel and Benjamin.

He will be remembered and sadly missed by all who knew him as a good friend, teacher and dedicated professional.