One of the country’s first female doctors and a prominent campaigner for the ordination of women in the Church of England has died in Wimbledon, aged 101.
Dr Barbara Fisk, who trained at the Royal Free Hospital when it was the only medical school in the country that agreed to train women, died peacefully in the arms of her daughter, Rev Dr Anne Townsend, on November 21.
Inspired by her mother, Rev Townsend was among the first group of women to be ordained as a priest in the Southwark Diocese after working as a missionary doctor in Thailand for 16 years and as a chaplain at St George’s Hospital in Tooting.
Dr Fisk is survived by two children, six grandchildren, and 10 great grandchildren living in Utah and Arizona USA, Venezuela, Thailand and the UK.
Among her grandchildren, three have worked as medics and aid workers with Christian and secular organisations in refugee camps across the developing world including Burma, Thailand, Georgia, Singapore, Borneo, Malaysia, Mozambique, Peru, and Cambodia.
In celebrating her 100th birthday, nearly two years ago, at Park Lodge in Wimbledon, Bishop Richard Cheetham gave thanks on behalf of the worldwide church for her long service to the Church of England.
Her funeral service is due to tale place at 12.30pm next Thursday, December 10, at St Paul's Church in Wimbledon Park where she was described as a “cherished member”.
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