Obituaries – CMF NEWS – Spring 2022

Alan Loveless (b 16 June 1919, q 1943 Cambridge, d 28 June 2021) enjoyed nearly 80 years as a medic! He had a brief spell as a junior doctor in the Midlands following his graduation. In an era where antibiotics were only just being discovered, he encountered significant morbidity and mortality, especially on a children’s ward, with a 25 per cent mortality rate.

Towards the end of World War Two, while stationed in the Far East, he faced one of his greatest challenges. He performed a successful appendicectomy on a young Japanese officer in Changi jail who was on death row for war crimes. My father took a considerable interest in this man and led him to faith in Jesus Christ. He regained contact with the man’s family in later years through an Anglo-Japanese link.

From its early years, Alan was a keen supporter of CMF. He served on several committees and ‘led from the front’. His enthusiasm for both medicine and his Christian faith is illustrated by his appointment as a medic at a Christian hospital in North India at the age of 88, where he brought great encouragement to both patients and staff.

He married Mary in 1951. Together they established a lovely home for their six children (and many friends) in East Kent, where he served as a GP. The theme of his funeral was that of ‘living hope’ (1 Peter 1:3). Prayers in the service included the words ‘May we be encouraged to follow in his footsteps and discover the same living hope’.

Dr Richard Loveless