Peter Mann Meffan
Peter Mann Meffan FRCS FRACS
17 April 1930 - 25 March 2016
Urologist
Peter Meffan was a pioneering spirit with self-belief, an optimist with old school values that provided clear sign posts for life. He liked to blend traditional conservativism with a signature flash of colour and was recognized for his daily hand-tied bow ties. For him no dream was too big, no barrier insurmountable. He taught his friends and family to get up early and drive through the night if there was an adventure to be had, and he encouraged all to believe that everything is achievable if you are open to finding out how.
Peter Meffan was born in Wellington to James Meffan and Mary (née Grosvenor), both teachers. His parents moved to Ruatoria, on the East Cape of New Zealand where they both taught at the local school, primarily for Māori children, but which Peter also attended. At the age of eleven years Peter was confined to bed for a year after developing rheumatic fever. It was during this time that he discovered the joy of creativity, first building a model aircraft and then becoming very proficient in the art of Māori carving.
Deciding on a medical career Peter entered the Otago Medical School in 1949, residing at Selwyn College throughout his time in Dunedin. He became a member of the noted Selwyn Ballet and was also a member of the Capping Concert Sextet. He completed his MBChB in 1954. Peter met Margaret King, a fellow medical student, during his third year and they married in 1955, their first child, Mary, being born in 1956.
In 1958 Peter, Margaret and Mary travelled to the UK so Peter could obtain general surgical experience and this resulted in his obtaining his FRCS in 1961. Shortly afterwards Peter accepted an offer to work as a general surgeon at Nelson Hospital and the family returned to New Zealand (now with son Patrick, born 1959). The family (by then five in number, with the addition of Andrew, Terry and James) returned to the UK in 1968 where Peter spent a year at Leeds training in urology with Phillip Clark. He then returned to Nelson to provide a urology service, although for many years continuing to cover acute general surgery. Peter obtained his FRACS (Urology) in 1970. With an interest in renal transplantation, and wishing to know if kidneys could remain viable while on a perfusion machine he persuaded the Nelson Hospital Board to build a stand-alone state of the art facility atop the hospital emergency water tank to permit research on pigs. In the 1970s and 80s he pioneered a new approach to the management of localised prostate cancer using a combination of initial hormone treatment and delayed radical radiotherapy and published his results. This ultimately led to a much larger international study developing this concept - now considered the gold standard for patients who elect to undergo radiotherapy for their treatment.
Peter's childhood ability with his hands and his appreciation of 3 dimensional structures were attributes which made him naturally gifted as a surgeon. A technically skilful operator with a strong academic basis, perhaps Peter's greatest asset was his ability to relate to his patients. His exhibition of compassion and confidence gave his patients great faith that they were in good hands. Despite 20 years elapsing following his retirement, former patients continued to ask about his well-being. In addition, he was a good teacher with an ability to encourage junior staff in the acquisition of surgical skills.
To say that Peter was one of life's great enthusiasts would be a considerable understatement. He was always into something: playing guitar, baking bread, ham radio, woodwork, home brewing (which later became the more alarming hobby of distilling), cars, yachting, gardening (cheerfully ripping specimens out of the conservation estate), engineering, farming, building, running, tramping, cheese, wine, skiing, travel. An exhausting list perhaps, but nowhere near an exhaustive one. Peter's boundless enthusiasm was the engine that drove a truly wonderful family life onward, always trying new things, always looking to take pleasure in everything that came along.
In many ways yachting proved perfect. For most of us, saying that "we're into yachting" means we like to sail. For Peter getting into yachting involved learning about boat design, picking up old crafts like adzing (at the cost of several tendons in his foot), steam-bending timber, forging. He became familiar with the tactics of ocean racing, provisioning, cooking at sea, radio and shipping protocols, running repairs, weather systems… The building of four yachts might suggest that he was never quite satisfied, but in fact he just loved the process. While it is true to say that he was self-taught in most things, this is really just a way of saying that he wasn't formally taught. Learning for Peter always involved other people, and he sought out (and was often sought out by) people with special knowledge of particular things. Nelson was full of people who would sidle up to Peter and say "I hear you're building a boat…" a laconic prelude to offering up what they knew, and pitching in to help with particular tasks.
When the family started running at school Peter quickly followed their lead becoming an enthusiastic runner. He recognized that, apart from competition, exercise was also likely to have very beneficial health effects. In the 1980s he conceived the idea of a formal medical conference based on sound science and concluded by all participants completing a 10 km run - and so the Doctors 10 Km Meeting was born. It ran very successfully for many years, initially in Nelson, then in other centres until eventually it was replaced by more formal sports science conferences. In retirement Peter and Margaret were regularly on the road, exploring backwaters and backcountry areas around New Zealand, while still maintaining many of the hobbies of their earlier years.
Peter is survived by his wife, Margaret, and children Mary (music teacher), Patrick (urologist), Andrew (dentist), Terry (Hare Krishna), James (University Lecturer), 14 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild.
This obituary was provided by Patrick Meffan (FRACS) with the assistance of the family.
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