The son of Christopher Basil Hatton Boake, Bill was born in 1922. Educated at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, he obtained a Junior Government Scholarship and proceeded Leaving Certificate and Matriculation in 1936. He achieved a government free place in 1939 and proceeding the University of Melbourne, was exhibitioner in bacteriology, first class honours in pathology in 1946. Later, in the Medical Faculty he was awarded the Prize in Forensic Medicine and the Keith Levi Memorial Scholarship in Medicine, the Jamieson Prize in Clinical Medicine and the T.F. Ryan Scholarship in Medicine in 1948. He had earlier graduated Bachelor of Science, first class honours in 1942 and later proceeded Master of Science. He completed his medical course in 1948 and was on the University Swimming Team of 1946. Tennis was always a keenly indulged sport.
Proceeding to Oxford University he graduated Bachelor of Science and was a Nuffield Dominions Resident Fellow at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology in Oxford 1950 to 1952. He was the J.T. Tweddle Scholar of the RACP at St Mary's Hospital London 1953 to 1954 and proceeded MRCP London and MRACP in 1955. He became a member of the Pathology Society of Great Britain in the same year and also attained membership of the American Federation for Clinical Research and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand together with obtaining the Travelling Fellowship of the International Children's Centre, Paris, in that year. In the period 1955 and 1956 he pursued research and teaching appointments at Oxford University and St Mary's Hospital London and became an instructor in medicine at the Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Immediately thereafter he was appointed assistant in the Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne at St Vincent's Hospital. In 1949 he married Frances Elise, daughter of Dr JE Gillespie and there were two children of the marriage, Alastair and Christine – who obtained her Doctorate of Science at Cornell University in New York, her particular research interests being in qualitative genetics.
Forming the impression that his optimal medical future did not lie in his home city of Melbourne, Bill migrated to the USA where he and his family settled in Madison, Wisconsin. Here he became the head of cardiology Services at professorial level and remained there during the lengthy period 1961 to 1981. After he and the family had endured so many harsh mid-west winters, Bill decided to seek warmer climes and ventured south to Sun City, a satellite of Phoenix, Arizona. Here he continued to practise cardiology in the period 1983 to 1985.
His final change of site activity was from Sun City to Fort Lyon in Colorado. He died in Fort Lyon on 6 February 1990, reputedly the result of intracerebral bleeding associated with anticoagulant therapy consequent upon his developing atrial fibrillation. Together with his prime loves of family and cardiological medicine, Bill was especially enthused about visual arts and of the many wonderful galleries in the USA. There seemed little doubt that his particular first love was for the Chicago Institute of Fine Art, the repository of arguably the best collection of impressionist art in that nation. Favourite stories, oft repeated, told of the roles of Berenson and Duveen in the remarkable acquisition to the USA of major European art works at the turn of the century and later.
Indulging with Elise his penchant for travel, he would devise itineraries which led to favourite destinations where there existed a celebrated gallery such as Madrid (Prado), Washington DC (National Gallery) and the profusion of celebrated galleries in the USA, England and Europe. Another particular interest was Mayan architecture and culture. Although it may be fair to say that Bill never regretted his leaving his homeland for a career in the USA, he made frequent return journeys to Australia, the last being in 1983. To mark his passing, a small luncheon was held in Melbourne on 28 February 1990, the group including Barry Kneale, Michael Wooldridge, Graham Cooper, Thomas Hurley and myself. I acknowledge with gratitude the assistance in compiling this biography from Drs Barry Kneale and Michael Woodridge.