1924 – 2014
Dr Peter Turner was born in Handforth, Cheshire in March 1924 and qualified in dentistry in Edinburgh in 1947. His national service started in the RADC, but finding this a bit mundane, he joined the Parachute Regiment and would have been posted to Germany if he hadn’t broken an ankle in a jump shortly before the regiment was due to depart.
He completed his National Service in 1950 with the rank of Captain and applied for a House Surgeon post in Manchester Dental Hospital. He was the first non-Manchester graduate to be appointed there and used to say that the reason he was appointed was that the committee mistook him for a promising rugby player.
After spells in prosthetics and oral surgery Peter established the department of oral pathology having completed his MSc in 1953 and his DDS in 1961, following which he was promoted to Reader. He published widely and was much in demand as a postgraduate lecturer.
Having been taught as an undergraduate by Peter, who was also extremely helpful when I was sitting my FDS, I can testify that he had the ability to explain a pathological slide in such a way that what initially looked like an amorphous series of coloured dots became an easily understood narrative of a classical clinical condition.
Peter retired in 1982 but continued on a part time basis in the oral surgery department in Macclesfield until 1996. Among his many skills he was an accomplished woodworker, motor mechanic, bridge enthusiast and also enjoyed cycling.
Peter’s wife Barbara, an orthodontist, and his daughter sadly predeceased him. He is survived by his two sons.
Pip Thomas