Jim Lawson was a consultant surgeon at North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary, Stoke-on-Trent. He was born in Birmingham on 28 October 1930. He was educated at King Edward’s School and qualified from Birmingham University Medical School in 1954, intercalating with a degree in physiology in 1952. He also took the conjoint exam, gaining the MRCS LRCP in 1954. He spent most of his training in the West Midlands, apart from two years of National Service in the RAF. Jim became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1960. In 1962 he was a senior registrar in surgery at the Royal Hospital, Wolverhampton. He was a lecturer in surgery in the department of surgery at Birmingham University from 1963 until he was appointed as a consultant surgeon at the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary in 1967. Jim was a general surgeon in the days before formal subspecialisation, covering all areas for both elective and emergency cases, although he had a specialist vascular interest, particularly carotid artery surgery, which he maintained until his retirement in 1993. He was a technically gifted surgeon who had the ability to make complex surgery appear straightforward. He was an ebullient and cheerful character, able to see humour in most situations. As well as being a technically able surgeon, Jim was a good doctor and respected opinion who was liked and admired by junior members of his team, respected by his colleagues and adored by his ward and theatre nurses. His patients thought the world of him. He chaired the surgical specialists’ subcommittee of the medical advisory committee and was elected president of the West Midlands Surgical Society in 1986. He and like minded colleagues formed a travelling club, the Peripheral Vascular Club, providing a varied scientific programme and plenty of opportunities for lighter entertainment and socialising. Jim enjoyed his time away from work. He married Carolyn Ehret in 1960 and had three children, Sarah, Stephanie and Christopher, who had an entertaining and full childhood, and seven grandchildren. Jim was an accomplished skier and enthusiastic golfer and became president of Trentham Golf Club. Jim spent many happy holidays with the family in Harlech, north Wales, where he enjoyed playing golf at the Royal St David’s Golf Club. After retirement, Jim and Caro travelled widely, both meeting old friends and making new ones.