Blenheim doctor Paul Fogarty helped bring thousands of Marlburians into the world. Dr Fogarty, 99, passed away at Bethsaida Retirement Village in Blenheim after outliving his wife, siblings and many of his friends.

He came to Blenheim in 1934, and as a respected surgeon and doctor, touched the lives of many in what was then a small town.

He played a prominent role at Holmdale Maternity Hospital, which brought more than a generation of Marlburians screaming and crying into the world, before maternity services were moved to Wairau Hospital in December, 1987.

Marlborough’s first maternity home, Holmdale was established in Litchfield St in 1918. The ante-natal unit, which was used by the hospital midwives for ante-natal classes and to book appointments, was added to the site in 1958.

In an interview in 2002 Dr Fogarty recalled fond memories of the thousands of babies he delivered at Holmdale in his 35 years on the job. “It was a good place. I had a lot of fun delivering all those babies,” he said.

Paul Fogarty was born in Greymouth, but when his father realised his son was academically gifted, he sent him to Sacred Heart boarding school in Auckland. There he enjoyed everything but the food, said his youngest son Christopher Fogarty, 62. “He reckoned it was absolutely awful.”

Dr Fogarty was dux at Sacred Heart before moving to Otago to study medicine. He went on to study in Edinburgh, becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.

His wife, who he met in Wellington, was a pianist with whom he shared a love of gardening and classical music. They had a successful marriage for 65 years, Mr Fogarty said. “They were very strong people and uncompromising in their principals—strong Catholics, similar interests and they just got on really well together.”

In 1934 the couple moved to Blenheim and never left. “He often used to say when we’d go for drives, ‘I never regretted coming to Marlborough.’ He really loved the place.”

He enjoyed the climate, golf, and the water and was a regular at the Blenheim Aquatic Centre, where early morning patrons remember him arriving in pyjamas and dressing gown for his daily swim, a routine he followed until he was 95. Indeed, as shown in the photo, regulars at Blenheim’s Aquatic Centre had a cake ready to celebrate Dr Paul Fogarty’s 95th birthday when he arrived for his regular early morning swim on August 28, 2001.

Coming from Irish stock, Dr Fogarty enjoyed people, his son said. “He liked to party, he was pretty sociable. He was always very unassuming and friendly with a large range of people.”

During World War 2 Dr Fogarty was Blenheim’s sole surgeon and was sometimes called out three or four times a night. “He got a lot of satisfaction from his work as a surgeon.”

His father was a “straight shooter,” but never got off-side with anyone or upset people with his manner. And as a father he was stern, caring and inspiring, said Mr Fogarty. Dr Fogarty had four children, 13 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, several of whom have entered the medical profession.

Consultant physician John Hedley said when he started working at Wairau Hospital Dr Fogarty had already retired and was only seeing a few patients, who were old friends. He treated many of Dr Fogarty’s patients, who, along with hospital staff, remembered him fondly. It is the patients and the hospital records which show the amount of great work Dr Fogarty did, he said.

“He was a grand man—a wonderful asset to Marlborough. He had a wonderful sense of humour. A lovely man, a person I admired and Marlborough was lucky to be served by him. It has been a wonderful thing he made it to 99.”