DR IAN HADFIELD

Published on 08/05/2014

DR IAN HADFIELD 16th June 1921 - 3rd April 2014 Dr Ian Hadfield, a noted Hampshire child psychiatrist, has died at the age of 92. Ian pioneered what is now a thriving network of clinics across the county, treating children with behavioural difficulties and psychiatric disorders. Ian studied medicine at New College, Oxford University, but interrupted his studies to enlist in the Royal Navy in 1940. He served as a medical orderly on the corvette HMS Peony in the eastern Mediterranean. In 1943 he obtained a commission as a Lieutenant and was stationed in Gibraltar, tracking German submarines trying to enter the Mediterranean. Ian completed his medical degree after the war and went on to specialise in child psychiatry. In 1950 he met Joy Macdonald while working as a resident at the Middlesex hospital and they wed in 1951. In 1958 Ian was appointed consultant in Child Psychiatry to Hampshire Child Guidance Clinics, which is still operating from the Friarsgate Medical Centre, Winchester. During this time he was twice elected chair of the Wessex Child Psychiatric Committee. He was also a frequent guest lecturer and examiner in child development at Southampton University. After fully retiring in 1981, Ian indulged his passion for sailing from his home in Hamble, but he continued to be involved in the mental welfare of children, joining the charitable group Friends of the Family in Winchester in 1996 as staff consultant. Ian's dedication to the group extended beyond his professional skills. Twelve years ago he single-handedly built an office for Friends of the Family in the grounds of Winchester’s Quaker Meeting House. Charity workers were shocked to see him scrambling up ladders and lifting heavy beams into place once they learned his age – he was 80! Ian continued to volunteer for the charity until 2011 when his hearing loss made it impossible for him to continue. Although Ian was endearingly modest, he was honoured to receive the "Volunteer of the Year Award" from the Winchester Area Volunteer Awards in 2008. Ian was a kind, warm, open-minded man with an unbounded enthusiasm for life. He always listened with great interest and sensitivity to other people's ideas, and his positivity was infectious. He was generous with his time, going out of his way to help and encourage others and was never judgemental. Ian loved nothing more than getting stuck in to a new project, whether it be building a dinghy, fitting a tractor engine or raising funds to supply a new pump for the well in a small Moroccan village. He never gave up - he enjoyed finding a solution to any problem. During the last few months of his life Ian was bedridden, but retained his mental faculties, his interest in life and his sense of humour. He is survived by his wife, Joy, four children, four grandchildren and four great grandchildren. All his family and friends will miss Ian tremendously.

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