Dr Earle Farrington, MBE, the Bahamas’ first certified general and consultant surgeon, died at his Eastern Road home at 8:55pm Saturday after being bedridden for many years with a debilitating illness.

Funeral services for Dr Farrington will be held at St Michael’s Methodist Church, Boyd Road, on Friday, November 15, at 10am.

Dr Philip Stubbs, Minister of St Michael’s Church, will officiate, assisted by Rev Christopher Neely, president of the Bahamas Methodist Conference, and Rev Dr Colin Archer, founding president, Bahamas Methodist Conference.

Dr Ira Earle Farrington, son of the late Ira and Pearl Farrington, was born in Nassau on March 10, 1927.

He was educated at the Eastern Primary and Senior Schools, was head boy of Government High School and was a clerk to the Bahamas Secretariat before going to the University of Glasgow, Scotland, where he earned his Bachelor‘s degree in Medicine and Surgery.

Dr Farrington was later a lecturer in Anatomy at the University of Glasgow and a senior House Officer at the Western Infirmary, Glasgow.

He was then Registrar for training at Victoria Infirmary, Royal Hospital, Neurological Centre in Scotland, a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal Society of Medicine. He was also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

On his return to Nassau he served with distinction for many years as head of the Department of Surgery at the Princess Margaret Hospital. He was instrumental in the training and development of a generation of Bahamian surgeons and doctors. At a gathering of the Bahamas Medical Association on his retirement from government service, he was fondly described as “the Bahamian father of modern day medicine in the Bahamas.”

In a medical note in the records of the Princess Margaret Hospital it was estimated that at the PMH alone Dr Farrington had performed more than 30,000 surgical procedures.

“Here is a statistic,” a friend noted, “surpassed only by his unmatched generosity, love and devotion to his wife and family, and a loyal empathetic understanding and patience demonstrated to all, without distinction. Earle possessed a magnanimous, unselfish love of life and people.”

Dr Farrington was made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. He was also an honorary Fellow of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas Academy of Medical Sciences, member of the Police Service Commission, first chairman, The Health Professional Council, Physician Emeritus, the Medical Association of the Bahamas, and president of the Bahamas Islands Medical Association.

Dr Farrington was also the recipient of the Lady Sassoon Golden Heart Award and the Gold Medal at the Bahamas Silver Jubilee Awards ceremony at Government House.

Dr Farrington is survived by his wife, Melanie, two sons, Craig and Douglas, three grandchildren, his two brothers, Ramon of Ottawa and J, Barrie Farrington of Nassau, in-laws, and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Caption for photo:

Dr Earle Farrington, MBE, MB, ChB, FRCS, FRCM, FACS.