Derek Birt died on May 31, 2023, at the age of 90, peacefully at Briton House after a long, slow decline.
Brian Derek Birt was born on March 20, 1933, in Birmingham, England, to Charles and Mona Birt. He never used his first name and was called Derek his entire life. His father was a surgeon lieutenant in the Royal Navy (later rising to the rank of surgeon captain) and the family moves included two postings to Malta between 1933 and 1937.
The family (by now including brother Michael) relocated several times during the war years and managed to survive the heavy enemy blitzes in Birmingham and then later in Plymouth. In due course, Derek attended Epsom College, England, as a boarder before studying medicine at University College London (UCH). He missed one year of studies whilst confined to a sanatorium being treated (successfully) for tuberculosis. Following his qualification as a doctor, he held a number of medical house positions before moving to the Middlesex Hospital, London, where he gained a Fellowship in Surgery (FRCS, London) and specialized in otolaryngology.
It was while working at the Middlesex that he met his future wife, Anne Deeks, who was also on the medical staff. It was during this time that he learned to sail on a London reservoir. In 1970, Derek accepted the offer of a consultant's position at the University of Toronto and he moved his family, by then consisting of Anne and Derek, their two children, and the cat, to Canada. They bought a house three days after arriving and lived there for the next 46 years.
He joined the department of otolaryngology at Sunnybrook Hospital (as it was then) and also worked at the Princess Margaret Hospital, later transferring to the Toronto Regional Cancer Centre when it opened on the Sunnybrook campus. During his career, he held multiple prestigious positions in his field. These included being president of the Canadian Otolaryngological Society, editor-in-chief of the Canadian Journal of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck surgery, and director of the residency program in otolaryngology at the University of Toronto. He helped create and enjoyed working in an innovative multidisciplinary mouth clinic, and was a superb and much liked clinical teacher. Despite his very busy professional career, he had many hobbies, including building up a collection of antique barometers.
In his second summer in Toronto, he bought a boat and joined the Royal Canadian Yacht Club. He sailed every year since, until ill health prevented him from travelling to the island. He was most successful in his third boat, Myringa, once winning the Lake Ontario Racing Council season's championship. As his career began to wind down, he started to play golf. He joined Cedarbrae and enjoyed playing with friends, including celebrating the time he achieved a hole-in-one.
In the winter, he and Anne were regulars at both the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Canadian Opera Society, and listened to the opera broadcast from the Met in New York every week. He was predeceased by Anne, after 62 years of marriage; and he leaves his two children, Catherine and Peter; his beloved granddaughter, Emily; as well as his younger siblings, Michael, David and Gillian.