Alan Rhodes was a consultant in general and paediatric surgery in Coventry. He was born in Wolverhampton on 1 April 1936 to Florence Rhodes née Levers, a secretary, and Wilfred Rhodes, a clerk. After a stellar performance at Wolverhampton Grammar School, he entered Birmingham Medical School in 1953. He obtained a BSc in anatomy with a distinction in 1956, and then qualified in 1959 with another distinction, winning prizes in surgery, neuroanatomy and social medicine, together with the Queen’s scholarship for the best performing student in parts one and two of the final examinations. His early interest was in anatomy, and after house jobs he became an anatomy demonstrator in Birmingham before his love of the subject took him to the USA in November 1961 as an instructor in neuroanatomy at the State University of New York. He returned to the UK and Birmingham in 1963. He published scientific papers on nervous pathways involved in the ferret’s response to added light and the influence of thyroid state of C14 lysine in normal and regenerated neurons of rats, among other subjects. He rapidly completed his surgical training and became a consultant in Coventry at the very early age of 32. He loved teaching and did so throughout his training. Shortly after taking up his consultant appointment, he took on the organisation of the fellowship course, which he directed and taught for six years, eventually becoming the RCS tutor to Coventry. After his retirement, he even returned to teaching anatomy, this time to mature medical students at Warwick University. At a local level, he chaired the department of general surgery and later the Coventry hospitals’ medical staff committee for five years. At a national level, he was a member of the junior medical staff committee of the British Medical Association as a trainee and later a member of the central committee for hospital medical services of the British Medical Association from 1969 to 1977 and the central negotiating committee. Any of his colleagues would tell you that life was rarely dull when he was around. George Bentley, who worked with him in the very early years, described him as the most intelligent and entertaining man he could recall in all his training years. Surgery was where Alan felt in command; as a natural anatomist he was deft and meticulous in his surgical approach, and his accompanying commentary made the anatomy come to life for those he was teaching. Alan taught so much more than surgery. His leadership, hard work, dogged determination to get what was right for his patients, humanity and kindness made him a fantastic role model. He was always interested in and eager to forward the careers of those who had worked with him and encouraged and mentored both men and women, including Dame Fiona Caldicott, who became president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and Dame Clare Marx, who became president of the Royal College of Surgeons. He was an enthusiastic Rotarian and also helped found the Snowball Trust, which looks after sick and needy children in Coventry. His wealth of stories and his entertaining and masterful delivery meant that he was in constant demand on radio and as an after-dinner speaker. Although he hated flying, he was an enthusiastic traveller and a member of the 1921 Surgical Travelling Club. Alan was married twice and had four children, two boys and two girls. When his first son died in 2001, he was very deeply affected. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2013. Over time Alan’s physical and mental skills were stripped from him whilst he retained to the end the knowledge of how many abilities he had lost. He was survived by Caroline, his wife for the last 38 years and a general practitioner, three sons and a grandchild.