(Contributed by Michael Tait)
Educated at George Herriot’s School, Godfrey studied and qualified at Edinburgh and did his house jobs in Kilmarnock where he met Ray, his wife of 66 years. Called up in 1942, he served with the Eighth Army in North Africa, Italy and Austria. There being little need for physicians, he had to turn his hand to anaesthetics. He was mentioned in despatches, ending the war as a Major. His wartime experience led to the publication of Pulmonary Oedema in Chest Wounds (Lancet, 1946). Returning only late in 1946, he held registrar posts in the Edinburgh and Huddersfield Royal Infirmaries. He obtained his MD and MRCP from Edinburgh, both in 1947, and his FRCPEd in 1958.
Appointed to Dewsbury and District Hospitals as Consultant Physician in General Medicine in 1951, he remained there until his retirement in 1982. For a while he served as a JP but found the increasing demands of the Bench impossible to reconcile with his work. His further publications included Idiopathic Pulmonary Haemosiderosis (Thorax, 1952) and Fatal Agranulocytosis During Carbimazole Therapy (Lancet, 1957).
He enjoyed a long and happy retirement, walking, reading and travelling with Ray. Until well into his 97th year he could cover 1-2 miles a day with a stick for assurance rather than necessity. He leaves two children and two grandchildren.