Long serving Leighton Buzzard GP celebrates milestone 100th birthday
A birthday card from the King and Queen was just what the doctor ordered for retired GP Russell Keeley who marked his century on Tuesday (May 12).
Dr Keeley, who will be remembered by many former patients in the town, celebrated his big birthday after receiving a congratulatory message from the King and Queen. He was joined by four children, seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Dr Keeley worked as a GP until his retirement in 1986 and continued in a part-time capacity for several years afterwards.
He still lives in his own house in Leighton Buzzard with the support of his family and carers and, as a lover of poetry, can still recite Shakespeare's sonnets by heart and continues to support the town’s Methodist Church.
He attributes his long life mainly to good luck, and continued love and support from family and friends, including Dr Mohamed Shaefi, a friend of many years who was also a GP in the town. And he says that having played a lot of rugby helped with knowing how to fall without hurting yourself too badly.
His son Duncan said: “Until recently he loved to walk in Rushmere Park and still visits the lake for birdwatching and for an ice cream at the cafe in his wheelchair, accompanied by his family. He’s often greeted by former patients who remember him.”
Dr Keeley was born on May 12, 1926, the last day of the General Strike. His father was a Methodist Minister and he spent his early childhood with his brother and three sisters in Denton, Manchester. He remembers being featured in the local paper when he and his sisters had a pet lamb which they walked on a lead down Manchester Road. Later the family moved to the Isle of Wight where he remembers watching the ‘Battle of Britain happening overhead while he was haymaking in the fields above Shanklin’.
As a medical student he trained at Cambridge University and The London Hospital Medical College and, after three years in Malaysia in the Colonial Medical Service, he returned to train in general practice.
After earlier GP jobs in Woodford Green, Royston and Epsom Dr Keeley joined Dr Brian Stephens and Dr David Tunnadine at the Leighton Road Practice in 1960. The practice then worked out of a small house with GPs working long hours in the day and were on call for home visits ‘with their wives taking telephone calls out of hours’.
He was also closely involved in designing the surgery’s new building where the practice is still based. His wife Barbara, who died in 2013, was involved in a wide range of community activities in the town notably the pre-school playgroup movement .
“Many women had their babies at home and GPs would attend the deliveries,” added Duncan. “He was also ahead of his time in providing family planning services from general practice.
"In 1970 his family connection with the Isle of Wight and his broad musical tastes led him on a whim to turn up at the famous Isle of Wight Pop Festival. There he promptly ended up working in the makeshift medical tent when the organisers put out a call for any doctors present over the tannoy, thus missing Jimi Hendrix’s last live performance.”