JOHN GRANDAGE

Helen and Iain and I would like to thank everyone who helped make John’s Funeral such a warm and generous celebration. For those who travelled from near and far to be with us at the event, and for all those who were with us online – thankyou. A special thankyou to Sandra and all at Amity Rose Funerals who cared for us so beautifully across the entire experience. We’re surrounded by support and filled with beautiful memories. Thank you all.

John taught me anatomy at Murdoch uni veterinary school. He was, by far , the favourite lecturer for me and my peers. His enthusiasm , wisdom and passion for anything anatomical was huge and infectious. His lectures were engaging , relevant and humerous. John made learning anatomy fun. He would often include quotes from Monty Python skits in the lectures as well as references from art and literature. I remember a slide on michealangelos David showing the veins in his arms , and John would weave memorable relevant snippets into his lectures We were very lucky veterinary students who benefitted greatly from Johns enthusiasm and encouragement and we will always remember him and his teaching with sincere gratitude. It was a tremendous delight for me to reconnect with John once an adult and veterinary graduate here in Albany. His anatomical knowledge was again very helpful to me when I sought his opinion interpreting difficult X-rays in practice. He was always happy to help and so generous with his knowledge. I discovered that John, like me , loved to play bridge so we partnered each other at the bridge table often. He was an extremely kind and polite bridge partner, who enjoyed a good game as well as a good game post mortem! He would often ring me at least a week later to discuss the wisdom of our bidding of a certain hand, his memory for the cards seemed to be yet an another amazing aspect of this man! John was a terrific soul with a great sense of humour and a zest for life. My sincerest condolences to all of his family. He will be sadly missed….

John, you will be warmly welcomed in to the great Veterinary School Common Room in the heavens, Here are some tributes from the Murdoch Class of 1986 Kirsty Thomas - He was one of the formative people in my life- John Grandage was an inspiration, a gentleman and most of all a wonderful teacher. To this day I tell people about him The world is left a little duller and the sky a bit brighter for his star having been lit!!!! Nicole Lobry de Bruyn - A great teacher, wise and always compassionate. He came to visit me when I had my car accident with a bone as a gift, then proceeded to ask me which bone it was...I still have the bone and I cherish it, RIP John. Tania Noonan - Such a lovely man and wonderful lecturer. I can still draw the bones of various animals and name the various bits despite not having practised as a vet for 15 or so years. Such an inspired way to ground a learning in anatomy. Judy Chapman - He was wonderful. Made anatomy fun. Always a positive, happy man. Karl Texler -Vale John Grandage. I owe him so much. It was his faith in me that got me through 2nd year via an Anatomy Sup. Truly a man for all seasons! Condolences to his family and all who were privileged to know and remember him. Ralph Hudson - Lovely man, suggested I read up about monotremes and marsupials when I thought an echidna was a porcupine.

Saddened to hear of John’s passing. Memories of John’s lectures in ‘78 are still fresh - so lasting was the impression he made. His joyous delivery of a subject he clearly loved made learning Anatomy a pleasure on an ordinary day & a thrill ride on the extraordinary ones… His depth of knowledge was vast; his humour infectious, his artistic skills sublime & his palpable delight in teaching was inspirational. He was truly a remarkable man…my thoughts are with his family. Rest in Peace John ️

As a contemporary classmate of Ross, Ian and Ed, I echo their comments and lasting memories of John Grandage, the accomplished anatomist and masterful teacher who made sure that all of his undergraduate students left with a solid grounding in comparative veterinary anatomy AND comparative functional anatomy, whether they were destined for careers in practice or in public health. I had the honour of knowing John for almost all the years he lectured Vet II and Vet III at UQ - as a laboratory technician and research assistant in Clinical Studies while completing first year subjects part time (where we were usually called upon to help set up the anatomy practical dissection classes ahead of time). Then during the short time I remained on faculty after graduation, we continued a friendship that also led to a couple of co-authored publications - where his love of language, grammatical accuracy and correct sentence structure became a lesson in itself. Not to mention his ability to title a paper in a way that immediately drew the reader’s attention … any Vet later working in the field of small animal reproduction will know what I refer to, having seen the classic description he wrote of the functional anatomy relied upon when mating dogs achieve ‘a tie’ …not to mention its’ title which was classic John Grandage (he drew the conclusions and wrote the text; I merely provided the ‘on heat’ corgis and took radiographs). John’s interest was always in dynamic and functional anatomy, and how various highly refined structures served to enhance a species’ evolutionary survival. His acceptance of a professorship at Murdoch University in WA soon after I had moved to New Zealand meant that we gradually lost contact, but I will always remember John Grandage as one of the best teachers I ever knew, and a person who so easily made sincere and lasting friendships. He will be sadly missed.

I shall forever be grateful to John for taking on the challenge of being the inaugural Clinical Veterinary Anatomist at the University of Cambridge. As the Director of the Sub-Department of Veterinary Anatomy at the time I was acutely aware of the need to refresh the course and make it relevant to the needs of contemporary veterinary practitioners. John did that and so much more, injecting fun and being inspirational; to use one of his trademark terms he was just a 'terrific' personality. We were fortunate to benefit from his wisdom and generosity. Thank you John. Graham J Burton, Mary Marshall and Arthur Walton Professor Emeritus of the Physiology of Reproduction, University of Cambridge, UK.

St Catharine's College Cambridge and a generation of Cambridge Veterinary Students were very lucky to have John Grandage as supervisor and Clinical Veterinary Anatomist teaching them. I, as Director of Studies in Veterinary Medicine in St Catharine's, was lucky to have John as a colleague, supporter and close friend. My wife Sally and I were very fond of John and Lynda and enjoyed their company in Cambridge and on several occasions in W.A. after they returned to Murdoch. John was a sparkling and entertaining person, scientifically and socially. He interacted well with everyone and almost always left them more cheerfull after they had seen him. The quick thinking, diagnostic ability and veterinary resources of John and his colleagues at Murdoch allowed him to survive his first stroke and to entertain us all for many years afterwards. Thank you John for being such a valuable and kindly man. Don. Donald M. Broom, Emeritus Professor of Animal Welfare, Department of Veterinary Medicine, and St Catharine's College, University of Cambridge, U.K.

John Grandage was one of a few teachers in my life whom I would label as “Inspirational “. Coupled with his ready smile and great sense of humour, this made him a truly great mentor. I remember his April Fools day prank like it was yesterday. He came to a lecture and busily started to sketch a complicated bony structure in the blackboard. After frantically trying to keep up, John then announced that if we turned that sketch upside down, it was a perfect rendition of Bugs Bunny! Vale John Grandage - a great man.

John was one of the few people in this world who could make anatomy lectures both interesting & fun - his were among the few lectures I looked forward to in my undergrad years at UQ. Many moons later when I found myself lecturing to vet students I tried to emulate John, but failed miserably. There was only one 'Grandage' - vale JG!

What a great bloke .His teaching was excellent complimented by his intelligence and sense of humour . He was good to me at Uni of QLD in our Vet Course

John commenced his lecturing career in our second year of the veterinary degree at Queensland Vet School. I also knew him at Murdovh University when he came there in the 1970s. He was a breath of fresh air who presented anatomy with deep knowledge and a great sense of humour. He is the only person I have ever known who could draw any part of any animal from any direction with total accuracy. It has been such an honour to have known him and his family . He is sorely missed.

It has been a privilege for us to have known John. A lovely, gentle man with a very cheeky grin and sense of humour. Richard will miss sitting with him at our concerts.

John's warmth and enormously entertaining lecture style will forever be cherished memories of my time at Murdoch Uni Vet School. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to experience the learning of Anatomy through song and poetry. Sending warmest wishes to John's family.

What a wonderful, funny, enthusiastic and highly intelligent gentleman he was. Forever remembered as the most entertaining lecturer at Murdoch Vet School. Much love to his family.