Patrick Francis O’Dwyer was a surgeon in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. He was born on 9 December 1926 in Toowoomba, Queensland, the son of Edward and Catherine O’Dwyer, and was brought up in humble circumstances in Harristown on the outskirts of Toowoomba. O’Dwyer was educated at Newtown State School and then St Mary’s Christian Brothers School (from 1934 to 1942). He finished his senior school year at the Banyo Seminary and spent another three years there before deciding not to become a priest. In 1949, he began his medical training at the University of Queensland and received a Commonwealth scholarship from the second year. To help pay his way through medical school he worked at Brisbane horse racing track. He qualified in 1956 and, following a period at the Mater Hospital, he spent two years at St George, Queensland, working in a general practice. In 1960, he went to the UK for surgical training, gaining his FRCS in 1963. In January 1964, he returned to Australia to work as a general surgeon at Bundaberg on the Queensland coast. A year later, he joined a group practice in Manly, Brisbane. He also tutored medical students at the University of Queensland. In 2000, he was awarded a papal knighthood. He retired in 2003 and in retirement painted, played bridge and spent time with his grandchildren. Patrick Francis O’Dwyer died on 28 May 2014 at the age of 88. He was survived by his widow, Janet Cecilia (née Power), whom he married in November 1960, their children, Philip, Louise, Anthony, Elizabeth, Robert and Patricia, and 20 grandchildren.