Sartorial elegance, cultured manners and reliable punctuality might suggest a conservative and dependable member of our profession. Such a physician was Torry EH Spark. To be born and married into a medical environment, and then to ascend slowly but surely the hierarchical ladder to senior consultant status, might suggest an individual with limited interests and imagination. Such Torry Spark was certainly not.

Torry was born in the Newcastle area, a descendent of medical and legal ancestors, who included the famous uncle, Dr Robert Scot Skirving. His school years were spent in Brisbane and Sydney and it was from Barker College that he entered the University of Sydney, then the only medical school in the State, from which he graduated in 1929. His passion for participating and excelling in sporting activities was already very much in evidence; he was awarded a university blue in tennis. Later in life, especially after an unfortunate accident whilst serving in the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War, which resulted in an ankylosed right knee joint, his main recreations included gardening, golf which he played, even after his injury, off a handicap of five, and deep-sea fishing.

Torry came to Macquarie Street after gaining immense diagnostic skills in a large personalised general practice in the northern suburb of Gordon. Following his appointment to the staff of Sydney Hospital, where he had started his graduate career as a resident medical officer, he rose from honorary assistant to senior physician. He was admitted to Membership of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, with the certificate number of 139, one of the earliest physicians to gain entrance by examination. His contributions as a teacher were appreciated by generations of students, his tutorials in medicine and therapeutics were the distilled product of sound training, wide experience and common sense. His quiet manner and exceptional wisdom were appreciated by the younger Sydney Hospital physicians appointed in the mid-1950s whom he guided and influenced during his last three years with dignity and devotion. The immaculately maintained Rolls Royce, a necessity in view of his infirmity rather than a luxury, was a familiar sight in the Hospital's overcrowded carpark.

His final sickness was unexpected and sudden. He had returned to the club house at the Royal Sydney Golf Club complaining of severe pain in the back of his neck. A few days later he died from a dissecting aneurysm at Sydney Hospital, the institution he had served for so many years. He had no direct descendants but his remaining family members, friends and colleagues recall him for his delightful, courteous and cheerful manner and absolute loyalty to the highest principles of his chosen profession. A kindly, sensitive and modest gentleman, he left without fuss or fanfare.