Name:
Patrick John Allen 
Location served:
Chatham  
Years in Practice:
1957 to 1993
Area of Specialization:
Surgeon  

Biography:

Dr. Patrick John Allen was born in South Africa on the 13th of April,1932.  Dr. Allen was the youngest of 2 sons born to Dr. Francis John Allen and the former Emelia Henrietta Forssman.  His father was a medical physician who was born in Cork, Ireland.  Dr. Allen’s parents were married in South Africa on the 22nd of January, 1926.  Dr. Allen’s brother Dr. Frank Allen, completed medical school and returned to South Africa to practice medicine near Port Elizabeth.

In 1957, Dr. Allen graduated from Queen’s University Medical School in Belfast, Ireland and moved to England for additional training in vascular and gastric surgery at St. Bartholomew’s and St. Mark’s in London.  He returned to Ireland, moving to Portadown, where he became a Consultant Surgeon at the new Craigavon Area Hospital.  He emigrated to Canada in 1972 with his family to join Dr. Donald M. Patterson as his partner in Chatham, Ontario.

Dr. Allen married Amie Armstrong McCurdy in July of 1958.  Mrs. Allen was the 2nd of 3 children born to William McCurdy and the former Molly Campbell.  Her parents were farmers and her siblings were Betty and Hazel.  Mrs. Allen trained at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast from 1952 until 1955 and graduated as registered nurse.

Dr. and Mrs. Allen had 4 children; Siobhan, Peter, Julie and Jennifer.

Dr. Allen was Chief of Surgery at the Public General Hospital in Chatham for approximately 12 years.  He also had practicing privileges at St Joseph’s Hospital in Chatham.

In his spare time, Dr. Allen enjoyed playing squash, cooking and gardening.  Dr. Allen had his private pilot’s license and flew his glider whenever the opportunity arose.

Dr. Allen died in Chatham on the 9th of May, 1993.   Mrs. Allen died in Barrie, Ontario on the 21st of November, 2013.

*Dr. Donald McIntyre Patterson also appears on the Chatham-Kent Physician Tribute website.

**Dr. Allen’s father, Dr. Francis John Allen served in the Medical Corp, in the Boer War, WWI and WWII.