“Kua hinga te totara i te wao nui a Tane – A mighty totara has fallen in the forest of Tane” aptly describes the sudden and unexpected death of JJ de Geus some months ago. John de Geus was a great teacher, colleague and friend to many. A well-loved surgeon, colleague, employer, friend and family man, John was an excellent raconteur with a very good sense of humour and he will be missed enormously by many in various parts of the world. John was fiercely loved, admired, and respected by his family and many friends and colleagues. Jacob Johannes (known as John) de Geus was born in Indonesia, where his Dutch parents, Pieter de Geus and Jeanne Van der Made, were missionary teachers. During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia (1942-45) John together with his mother and older sisters, Ellie, Carla and Tina (and separated from their father), spent time in an internment camp where they suffered malnutrition and significant hardship. With the ending of the Second World War the family, including their father, were repatriated back in the Netherlands. Finding life tough and cold, they decided to immigrate to New Zealand. Living in Auckland John attended Avondale College, where he had first to learn English. He excelled in both sporting (he was a champion swimmer) and academic fields. Through studying hard he gained a place at Otago Medical School in Dunedin, graduating in 1964. He spent his house officer years in Wellington, and subsequently obtained his basic surgical training there. During this time he married Ros Allen, a physiotherapist. In 1971 John and Ros headed to England where John quickly gained his FRCS. The opportunity to gain some plastic surgery experience saw him spend 15 months during 1971-72 as a registrar at Queen Mary’s, Roehampton, and at Wexham Park near Slough with Magdi Saad. He then trained in Liverpool for 3 years with David Maisels, who gave him his early introduction and lifelong commitment to cleft lip and palate surgery, a skill which John brought back to Auckland. In subsequent years John frequently returned to Liverpool to visit Maisels, who had had a significant influence as a teacher and mentor and remained a life-long friend. John returned to New Zealand towards the end of 1975, obtaining a post as a registrar at Middlemore Hospital Plastic Surgery Unit. The following year he became the tutor specialist and, when Sir William Manchester retired in 1979, he was appointed as a full-time plastic surgeon. He obtained his FRACS in 1980 and became a part-time visiting plastic surgeon the same year. As a consultant Plastic Surgeon, he immersed himself in all aspects of Plastic Surgery – burns, hand surgery, and reconstruction. It was an interesting time to be a Plastic Surgeon with many new developments – muscle flaps, microsurgery, and breast reconstruction amongst others. He was involved in microsurgery, both replantation surgery and free tissue transfers, but interestingly probably also performed the last tube pedicle flap (to the neck for a burn contracture) and cross leg flap (for lower leg trauma) in NZ in 1978-79. He also helped to develop breast reconstructive surgery both at Middlemore and by invitation at Auckland Hospital. However, his greatest interest was in cleft lip and palate surgery, where he was involved in a multidisciplinary team approach with dentists, oral surgeons, speech therapists, and orthodontists. He visited New Plymouth monthly to provide cleft lip and palate services for the Taranaki region as well. In 1980 John commenced in private practice and was soon busy, reflecting his great care of patients, excellent surgical skills, and infectious personality. He fostered great respect and loyalty from his patients and staff, borne out by the fact that his secretary in 1980 was still his secretary/practice manager at the time of his retirement from private practice in 2010. John was committed to the future of Plastic Surgery and especially trainee Plastic Surgeons in New Zealand, both in the public and private sectors. He took his responsibility to train others very seriously and until his retirement was a supportive, generous and inspiring surgical mentor to a cohort of plastic surgical trainees. He was well liked and respected by his colleagues, both Plastic Surgical and others. John was very interested in aesthetic surgery; being held in high esteem on both sides of the Tasman, and elected President of the Australasian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in 1998. He was very concerned by the practice of non-surgeons masquerading as Plastic Surgeons in NZ and damaging patients and Plastic Surgery’s reputation. John was committed to helping those in need and was an enthusiastic volunteer with Interplast Australia and NZ, making numerous trips to Suva in Fiji and to Viet Nam. In this work he inspired a young Fijian, the late Dr Semesa Matainacake FRACS, who became Fiji’s first plastic surgeon. Later Semesa Jnr followed and is now a plastic surgeon based in Suva. John eventually retired from Middlemore in 2005, having stayed on until he was sure that cleft and palate surgery was covered by a successor. He continued in private practice until 2010 when he retired from that sector. Subsequently he was invited to return to work at Middlemore Hospital to do outpatient clinics and sagely advise and supervise registrars in the Manchester See and Treat Clinic until his third retirement in 2017! Outside medicine John had many interests. He part owned a yacht and enjoyed the waters of the Waitemata in the 80s and 90s, played golf regularly as a member of the Royal Auckland Golf Club, enjoyed travel – buying a small house in the South-West of France near Toulouse and loved classical music. In later years he learned Te Reo. With a love of good food and wine, and having an excellent cellar, John was a wonderful host. John’s generosity cannot be overstated and there are many people, both within his immediate family and further beyond, who were recipients of his generosity and support. During his last decade John’s physical health began to decline, possibly a consequence of the nutritional deprivation he experienced during the Second World War. Despite that he remained active, walking regularly, attending the gym and playing golf. He even climbed Mt Vesuvius! struggling to the top with career-long friend Norm Olbourne. He is survived by his loving daughters, sons, daughters and sons-in-law Suzanne, Stuart, Sarah , Kevin, Tom, Penny, Joe, Jess, Liz, Gerhard, Troy , Kristen, and grandchildren Liv, Jacob, Sophia, Ted, Frank, and Beckett.