Dr John Roarty is regarded as one of the pre-eminent orthopaedic surgeons, and a pioneer of hip replacement surgery, in Australia. He devoted his life to his profession, and with a gentle tenacity, in his characteristically unassuming way, rose to the top of his field. Born on April 18, 1924, to Winifred and Stanislaus Roarty in Bellevue Hill, Sydney, John was the eldest of four children. He completed high school at St Aloysius College in Kirribilli and entered the Faculty of Medicine at Sydney University at the age of 17. He graduated in 1947, joining the staff at Lewisham Hospital as a resident medical officer, initially as an intern and then as the orthopaedic registrar before becoming medical superintendent in 1950. While the Orthopaedic Association had been established 15 years before, no formal exam nor formal training program existed for specialists in this area of medicine in Australia. The most renowned post-graduate qualification was at the University of Liverpool in the UK which fuelled John's desire to move to the UK to pursue a career in this field of medicine. His plans were almost thwarted when earlier that year he met and fell in love with June Shepherd, a violinist at the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney. They met at a Loreto Normanhurst Old Girls gathering at the Minerva Theatre in Kings Cross and courted over their shared love of music, regularly attending Sydney Symphony concerts at the old Sydney Town Hall. Together they agreed he should go to the UK to continue his studies, and June would follow him to London. He left Sydney in June 1950 as the doctor on a Swedish war freighter, The Wangaratta, carrying Tasmanian apples and wool. His journey on this ship reinforced his lifelong passion for sailing. He was a member of Middle Harbor Yacht Club and then became a member of The Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron where he raced regularly on his yacht, Julimatch. An active sportsman, he was a keen golfer, holding memberships of Pymble Golf Club and then Royal Sydney Golf Club. Having commenced his studies at the University of Liverpool in 1950, he graduated with the Master of Chirurgie at the end of 1951 and then began three years of orthopaedic training, working at the Birmingham Accident Hospital, Wingfield Morris Hospital in Oxford and at St Mary's Hospital in London. In 1954, he was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. It was at that point John decided to return to Australia, again as a ship's doctor, to join his dear friend and mentor Ron McEwen in his medical practice. Sadly, Ron died suddenly of a heart attack before John arrived back. He honoured his commitment and Ron's legacy, returning to Sydney in November 1954 and continuing the practice. He took up a position at Lewisham Hospital as well as taking over the clinics at the Royal Far West Children's Health Scheme at Manly. This scheme brought children from remote areas to Sydney for specialist care. As well as doing clinics at Manly and operating on patients at St Vincent's and Lewisham Hospitals, Roarty regularly travelled to remote clinics in Bourke, Cobar, Nyngan, and Wentworth and continued working for the Far West until nearly 1980 by which time there were specialists in rural areas and no longer the need for this service. He was passionate about his remote area work. In 1955 he was appointed as a clinical assistant to St Vincent's which began a lifelong involvement with both St Vincent's Hospital and the Sisters of Charity. It was in that year that he married his wife, June, on October 29 at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney. They went on to have five children. They were devoted to each other until June's death in December 2005, sharing a love of travel and the arts, in particular classical music. They were generous philanthropists in the arts, medicine and the Catholic community. In 1969 Roarty studied with John Charnley, the father of modern hip replacement surgery, attending operating sessions and outpatient clinics to learn the techniques of hip replacement. As a result, he brought groundbreaking hip replacement surgery to St Vincent's. During the 1980's, Roarty and a number of other doctors conceived the idea of a medical clinic attached to a large hospital campus, similar to those they had seen in the US. After an enormous amount of work as chair of the steering committee and later chair of the Medical Council, Roarty developed the plan for and oversaw the construction of St Vincent's Medical Clinic, together with the Sisters of Charity. He was the first of many orthopaedic surgeons to move into the clinic following its opening in August 1990, and continued his practice there until 2000. He was a founding trustee of the St Vincent's Clinic Foundation and its chair from 1998 to 2000. In addition, under his leadership, the clinic became a world-class private medical and research facility. His commitment to and passion for the hospital continued throughout his life - until his final weeks, he was always interested in what was happening at St Vincent's and the clinic. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia on Australia Day 2012, for his services to medicine, in particular through his contributions to the St Vincent's Clinic. He was a great supporter of and mentor to generations of surgeons and could always be relied on for a valuable opinion. He is survived by children, Chris, Julianne, Mark, Lisa and Tim, 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.