Nicholas Smyth, the very first boy in the school in September 1932 (aged 8 – he was born in April 1924) died in Naples, Florida on November 29th, 2008. He spent one year in Glenstal, then went to Ampleforth, but returned to Glenstal for a year in the early forties.
He studied first at U.C.D. and completed his medical studies at the University of Michigan in 1954. He remained on the faculty of George Washington University for almost forty years and was also a teacher and surgeon at several hospitals andat the National Institute of Health, He specialised in thoracic surgery. As a clinical researcher he invented and patented pacemakers, including the world’s smallest nuclear pacemaker and was responsible for many innovations in the area of his specialisation. He found time, too, to write medical mystery novels, Heartbreak (2002) and Phoenix (to be published).
We extend to his wife Elizabeth and his family (including Abbot Christopher, who was a first cousin) our deepest sympathy.