Dr Donald Edmund Anderson was involved in the early days of the National Heart Foundation and a pioneer in the advancement of cardiac rehabilitation in Australia at a time when standard treatment after a heart attack was total bed rest for eight weeks followed by six months of convalescence and often a lifetime of invalidism. Such was his influence in the field of cardiology that he was acknowledged by the first Director of the National Heart Foundation Dr Ralph Reader, for his contribution to the many advances in cardiology in the first 'golden twenty years' of cardiology in Australia.

He was born in Campsie, as he liked to say 'on the Ides of March', 1923, the youngest son of George and Alice (Maud) and brother of John, Rodney and Geoffrey (all deceased). Following in his brothers' footsteps, he attended Canterbury Boys High where his academic prowess and diligence saw him become dux of every year. He graduated with an MBBS from Sydney University in 1945.

His first position was as a Resident Medical Officer at Sydney Hospital from 1945 to 1946. From 1947 to 1949 he was a Teaching Fellow in Pathology at Sydney University and from 1949 to 1954 he worked as a Medical Registrar at the Royal Hobart Hospital. While in Tasmania he met and married a nursing sister Margaret (Pip) Phillips. In the early 1950s, he worked at the Vaucluse Infectious Diseases Hospital where he witnessed the final ravages of polio as the last epidemic in Australia took hold in Hobart. In 1955 he travelled to England with Pip and worked as a Cardiology Registrar at the Royal Manchester Infirmary from 1956 to 1960. While in England he gained Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and in 1957, Fellowship. He also worked in Rome for the Australian immigration department conducting medical screening of prospective immigrants.

On his return to Australia, Don held the following positions:

• Honorary Physician, Prince Henry and Prince of Wales Hospitals
• Honorary Consultant in Cardiology, Royal Hospital for Women, Paddington, Sydney
• Cardiologist to the National Heart Foundation Rehabilitation Unit
• Consultant Cardiologist to the Rehabilitation Branch of the Commonwealth Department of Social Services
• Consultant Cardiologist to the New South Wales Department of Public Health
• Lecturer in Clinical Medicine at the University of New South Wales
• Member of the Education Committee of the National Heart Foundation, New South Wales Division
• Member of the Sub Committee in Cardiovascular Disease of the Post Graduate Committee in Medicine, University of Sydney

Don was involved in the development of a cardiology unit at the then Prince Henry Hospital, worked at the Prince of Wales Hospital and taught medical students at the University of New South Wales until his enforced but unwelcome retirement at the age of sixty-five. However, he continued to see patients in his Macquarie Street rooms for another twenty years retiring in 2008 to care for his wife Pip until her death in 2010. Don's knowledge of all branches of medicine was vast and he was a wise and generous mentor. In 1976, he was awarded an OBE for his services to medicine and in 2012 travelled to London to attend a dedication ceremony for members of the British Empire at St Paul's Cathedral.

He had a lively curiosity about the world and treated everyone he met with respect and kindness. He was a member of the Sydney Cricket Ground, a fan of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, an accomplished pianist and support of the Australian Opera, Australian Ballet and the Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli. Generous hosts, Don and Pip welcomed many friends to their holiday house at Coaster's Retreat on the western shores of Pittwater. Don remained interested in all aspects of medicine, attended medical conferences through his life and maintained his membership of the Royal Australasian College or Physicians. Don is survived by his nieces Gillian and Victoria, his great nephew Tristan, many friends and extended family in Victoria and Tasmania.