John Leonard Wilkinson, known as Len, was a medical missionary and superintendent of Nixon Memorial Hospital, Segbwema, Sierra Leone and the author of *Neuroanatomy for medical students* (Bristol, John Wright & Sons Ltd, 1986). He was born in Kidderminster on 24 May 1924 to John Thomas Wilkinson, a Methodist minister, academic and principal of Hartley Victoria College of Theology, Manchester and Marian Wilkinson née Elliott, a teacher. He was the elder brother of Alan Bassindale Wilkinson, who became a Church of England priest, and younger brother to Hettie Marian Dormer née Wilkinson. In his youth he was a chorister at Liverpool Cathedral up to 1937, when his family moved to the Welsh borders. He trained at Manchester University Medical School, qualifying in 1948 with the Bradley memorial surgical prize. He was a house surgeon at Manchester Royal Infirmary and then, in 1949, a house physician at Withington Hospital, followed by posts as a demonstrator then junior lecturer in anatomy at Manchester University. He went on to a senior house officer appointment and, in 1954, became a surgical registrar. In 1952 Len married Winifred Eileen Docking, a secondary school teacher, and they enjoyed 70 years of marriage. In 1955 they set off to Sierra Leone, where he worked for 17 years as a Methodist missionary and medical superintendent at the Nixon Memorial Hospital, Segbwema. He focused on surgery, the treatment of tropical diseases, research, setting up outreach clinics, particularly for leprosy, malaria and kwashiorkor, while building new wards, a training centre and theatre. He also worked tirelessly to gain funding from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Oxfam. Travel to West Africa was initially by a 10-day boat trip to the capital Freetown, and then a 300-mile, two-day journey up country on unmade roads of red laterite dust, the first journey with his wife Win and three-month-old son shielded from mosquitos by a net over his wicker cot. There were five rivers to cross by hand drawn ferries. In the compound electricity was provided in the evening until 10pm from a generator and light was often from kerosene lamps, with an emergency generator for surgery. Patients were carried on home-made stretchers and many came on foot. Ward rounds took until 11am, out-patients until all were seen, sometimes well into the evening: all the time there could be extra surgical and obstetric emergencies, as well as being on call much of the time. Life was tough and on two occasions his life was threatened and he was flown back to the UK with Lassa fever and typhoid. In the mid-1960s he spent two years in India with the World Health Organization, and then returned to Sierra Leone. He was awarded an OBE in 1967. In 1972 Len and Win returned to their home in Knighton, Wales, where they lived with their two children. He worked in a range of locum GP and surgical posts around the country and was involved in research into infrared technology. ‘An operation for large scrotal hydrocele’ was published in the *Journal of Surgery* in 1973 (*Br J Surg*. 1973 Jun;60[6]:450-2). In 1974 he was made a fellow of the Anatomical Society and took up a post at Cardiff University Heath Hospital and then at the university’s anatomy department as a senior lecturer in anatomy. Here he wrote his textbook on neuroanatomy; the third edition was published in 1998 (Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd). In retirement in south Wales, Len enjoyed his interest in archaeology, using his anatomical knowledge to identify remains from various archaeological digs. He wrote *Excavations at Carmarthen Greyfriars 1983-1997: analysis of skeletal remains volume 1: summary of findings and photographs* (Llandeilo, Cambria Archaeology, 2001), alongside many other papers and skeletal analysis reports for excavations, including at St Donats in south Wales, Trelystan in Powys, Llanilar in Ceredigion, Girton in Cambridge and Llong in Mold, among many other examples. The family quickly got used to seeing human remains in the laundry room! In 2010 he and his wife moved to Tenterden in Kent, where he remained active, enjoying the garden (growing amazing sweet peas), holidays and grandchildren. He continued his interest in medical research and development. He passed away peacefully on 31 January 2023 at 98, a result of ongoing heart disease and old age, after a fascinating and varied life. He is remembered with great warmth for his wonderful sense of humour and wit, his genuine interest in people and surgical skill. He was a dedicated but very modest man with an enduring faith.