Emeritus Professor David Beatty passed away suddenly on the afternoon of Tuesday 14 August – a tragic loss for The Harry Crossley Foundation, The Children’s Hospital Trust, The Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, and for so many others.
He was a retired Emeritus Professor of the Department of Paediatrics and Clinic Child Health, University of Cape Town (UCT) who studied medicine and paediatrics at UCT. Apart from two working / studying years at Rochester New York in the 1970s and Boston in the 1980s, he had been attached to UCT and the Red Cross Children’s Hospital. Prof Beatty was appointed as Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health in 1990 and retired in 2006.
In 1994, Prof Beatty helped in the development of the Children’s Hospital Trust and played a huge role in the success the Trust is today. He chaired the Trust for four years and was an active trustee for that organisation’s entire history.
Prof Beatty was appointed as a Trustee to The Harry Crossley Foundation in July 2010. He was a much loved member of our Board of Trustees and was a giant of a man in the time and the understanding that he brought to his role as a Trustee. Always kind, always fair in his assessments and with a wonderful sense of humour, our office is the poorer for his passing.
We offer our condolences to his wife Sue and his three sons John, James and Sandy and their families and assure them that he will never be forgotten at The Harry Crossley Foundation.