A “famous” Ontario doctor who practiced until the age of 102 — marking him as one of the oldest people ever to practice medicine in North America — has died.
Dr. Charles Godfrey died at his home in Maddock, Ontario. on July 24, just weeks before his 105th birthday, his family told CTV News Toronto.
“He was pretty energetic up until that point,” his son Mark Godfrey said Tuesday.
Dr. Charles Godfrey practiced medicine until he was 102 years old, making him “one of the oldest physicians in North America,” said a spokesperson for the University of Toronto’s Department of Medicine. At the time, he was still working at four different medical clinics in Toronto, four days a week.
“He possessed remarkable longevity in his practice, supported by his enduring love of medicine and incredible care for his patients,” the university said.
If it weren’t for the pandemic, Mark Godfrey said his father probably would have continued training a little longer.
“He’s been the smartest guy in the room my whole life, every room we’ve been in,” he said.
Dr. Charles Godfrey was a “renowned” physician, a “true pioneer” and a “pioneer” in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R).
In 1953, he earned a medical degree from the University of Toronto, which he paid for by working as a janitor and scrap yard worker. He later went on to teach at the university for over 20 years.
After graduation, he served as Director of PM&R at Toronto East General and worked at Toronto General, Toronto Rehab and Sunnybrook Hospitals before being appointed Director of the Wellesley Hospital Rehabilitation Clinic.
Dr. Mark Bailey, medical director of Toronto Rehabilitation, said Dr. Charles Godfrey’s focus on treating the “whole person” and the impact an injury or illness can have on their daily lives continues to inspire the specialty.
His achievements were recognized in 1989 when he was appointed to the Order of Canada. “Deeply committed to humanity and the elimination of human suffering, and despite being of retirement age, he continues to engage in a grueling range of activities,” his award reads.
The Order of Canada also took into account his political activism, which focused on the environment, and made him a prominent member of the People or Planes campaign opposing the construction of Pickering Airport.
“Physicians must show community leadership,” urged Dr. Charles Godfrey in an article published in the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association in 1987.
This genuine concern manifested itself in his role as director of CARE/MEDICO, which led him, along with his wife, who was a nurse who died in 2002, to volunteer as a visiting doctor in more than 20 countries, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, Mark,” said Godfrey.
He was also a member of the Royal Canadian Military Institute (RCMI) for 34 years, where friend Pat Hind-White remembers Dr Charles Godfrey as being “brisk” and “mischievous”, a memorial notice said of RCMI.
“Few of us reach his age; even fewer of us devote each of his/her days to making this planet a better place. Dr. Godfrey did,” said RCMI President and CEO Rod Seifert.
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