Dr Peter Lee (1946 to 2017)

He was Educated at Denstone College, Uttoxeter, from 1961 to 1966 becoming head boy. In 1966 he went to Selwyn College Cambridge followed by St George’s Hospital achieving MB and B Chir.

He had Junior House Posts in St George’s Hospital, St James Hospital, St Peters Croydon, West Middlesex, Queen Mary’s Roehampton and Royal Hampshire County Hospital Winchester.

Toward the end of his career from 2006 he read for an M Phil in Medical Law and Ethics from Glasgow University. On retirement he spent a year as a volunteer at a hospital in South Africa.

Peter was most nobly and ably supported by his wife Jill and rightly proud of the family - Edward, Charles, Isabel, and Christina.

He lost his long battle with cancer in late 2017. For his Service at St Mary’s on 18 Jan 2018, the Church and a tent were full of their many friends and colleagues. 

There were three tributes: Professional, Family, and Community by Col Richard Vellacott, as follows:

Peter Lee Tribute by Col Richard Vellacott

Like so many of you, Peter Lee was my doctor. I well remember attending a blood test at the Winchester hospital and the nurse taking my blood asked me who my doctor was. On hearing my response it became clear that she knew Peter quite well, indeed she may have actually worked for/with him, and she remarked: “Oh Yes - I think that he is the best GP in Hampshire”. However, Peter was not just a great doctor.

He wanted to be involved in the community as a whole and, in the village he loved – Micheldever – in particular. He wanted to provide a genuine service to the community. Following the closure of the Waterside Surgery in the 1978, he created his own mini-surgery in two rooms of the family home (only a stone’s throw away from here). Subsequently in the 1990s after the nearby farmyard was developed, this surgery moved across to the former farm store. The retention of a surgery here in Micheldever was a clear demonstration of his wish to serve the community in which he lived to the full. His willingness to see patients early in the morning, often well before 8 am, and if necessary at weekends, was a service for which he will long be remembered with gratitude.

Invariably you would find Peter, throughout his life, at the significant village events – the annual church fete, the Safari Supper, concerts and the half yearly church clear up by the community to name but a few. In a professional capacity he was a strong advocate of regular exercise as being an important part of a healthy lifestyle and he followed his own advice. He ran three London marathons in his early forties in aid of the Dever Room in the Countess of Brecknock Hospice. As a veteran he was labelled as fast for his age. He ran cross country for pleasure and was a familiar figure in the environs of the village in all weathers in running shorts, usually accompanied by his dog. In his last few years he was to be seen regularly out walking with Jill.

After he retired in January 2008 Peter directed his boundless energy and enthusiasm for life into various activities. For example he found time to listen and help young people with their careers. It was a real tragedy when he was diagnosed with cancer of the colon in 2010, so soon after retiring. However, unsurprisingly, he determined to fight on and made every effort to conduct his life as he had always done – helping others and being involved in the community.

All of us here will have our own memories of Peter and I am no exception. I thought that I would just give you a couple of vignettes to show how committed Peter was to this community.

I run a small printing operation which, in the main, prints the village magazine and an Advertiser. I do this with the help of a small number of volunteers from the village and any profit goes back into the community. Some 4 years ago I was looking for another volunteer to join this team. Peter volunteered to help but shortly after joining the team, his medical condition worsened and he had to withdraw.

In February 2016 a complete stranger, with no retail experience, set up a village shop here in Micheldever in rented property in the centre of the village. It soon proved necessary for the village to rally round and help him run the shop. A team of volunteers to help staff the shop was assembled and Peter, despite being really quite ill by this time, was amongst the first to volunteer. He wanted the shop to succeed. Again the medical regime which he by then was undergoing prevented Peter from actually being able to help. His heart was willing but his body was not so keen. However, he did put a Naomi House collecting box in the shop. He was still collecting for them until very recently. In the event the shop did actually fold some six months later.

Peter was full of compassion, humanity, good humour and dedicated to his patients as well as to the wider community. He loved the environment in which he lived and worked and to which he made such a major contribution

Thank you Peter.