Thomas George Parks was a consultant general surgeon in Belfast and a former president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He was born on 14 June 1935 in Lurgan, Northern Ireland. The youngest of seven children, his early life was spent on the family farm and attending the local rural school. He was the first in his immediate family to attend university and moved to Belfast to undertake a medical degree at Queen’s University Belfast. He was awarded academic scholarships in each year of the course, the Adami medal for first place in pathology and the Marion Sims medal for first place in midwifery and gynaecology, graduating MB BCh BAO and achieving second place in the final examinations in June 1959. His house officer training was at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, following which he was an assistant lecturer in the department of physiology at Queen’s for one year. He undertook his senior house officer posts in surgery, obtaining his fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1963. In 1966 he was awarded an MCh from Queen’s with a thesis entitled ‘An enquiry into the pathogenesis of diverticular disease of the colon’. George Parks’ senior registrar training was at the Royal Victoria Hospital, before he moved to London, to work at St Mark’s Hospital and the London Hospital for a period of 18 months. He returned to Belfast to complete his senior registrar training before being appointed as a consultant surgeon at Armagh City and South Tyrone hospitals in October 1970. He was subsequently appointed as a senior lecturer in surgery at Queen’s and as an honorary consultant surgeon at the Royal Victoria and Belfast City hospitals from April 1971. He was promoted to reader in surgery in 1973 and was awarded a personal chair as professor of surgical science in 1982. He was the professor of surgery and acting head of the department of surgery from 1997 until his retirement in 2000, when he was awarded the status of emeritus professor of surgery. George Parks received a travelling award in 1970 and spent three months visiting several leading gastrointestinal centres, famous hospitals and renowned universities in the United States and Canada, to witness at first hand reputable clinical practice and discuss recent advances and current trends in gastrointestinal research. He also observed medical curriculum changes and new methods of teaching and training undergraduates, the knowledge of which he brought back to Belfast. For 20 years, George Parks was the central individual for surgical training in Northern Ireland, chairing recruitment panels, organising senior house officer and registrar rotations, being specialty adviser to the Northern Ireland Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education, and a specialty adviser to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He was a respected examiner both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He examined at Queen’s and for several other universities in Great Britain and Ireland, and internationally, as well as postgraduate fellowship examinations for all four of the surgical royal colleges. His research was in all aspects of gastrointestinal disease but especially colorectal disease, which was his main area of clinical focus. He set up the first dedicated specialist colorectal unit in Northern Ireland and was responsible for training a generation of future colorectal surgeons. He published extensively, with 38 book chapters and 127 major publications in scientific journals. He was regularly invited to deliver lectures at national and international meetings and travelled extensively. George Parks had a passion and panache for administrative responsibilities. He chaired numerous committees and working parties for Queen’s and within the NHS throughout Northern Ireland. He will be particularly remembered for his professional activity within specialist associations and the royal colleges. He held numerous positions of responsibility across a wide range of organisations and was recognised by being elected as president of the Ulster Society of Gastroenterology, the Irish Society of Gastroenterology, the section of proctology of the Royal Society of Medicine, the Irish Association of Coloproctology, St Mark’s Association, the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland and the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland. George Parks became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1983 and this provided an opening for what would be one of his most cherished contributions to surgical practice that he was to enjoy for 40 years. He was elected to council in 1986, served on and chaired many of the standing committees, before being elected as vice president in 1998 and subsequently president from 2000 to 2002. He was only the fourth president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland from Northern Ireland in it’s 239-year history. George Parks will be remembered as a kind, considerate and charming man. He was generous to all he came in contact with and was described as the epitome of a professional gentleman, a mentor, an inspiration, a leader, role model and remarkable, humble gentleman. George Parks married Elizabeth Mahood in March 1964. They had three children, Rowan, Fiona and Cheryl. Rowan followed his father into a surgical career, Fiona trained in banking and now works in a legal practice and Cheryl trained in accountancy and is now practice manager of a legal firm. George and Rowan have shared some unique roles and responsibilities. Both have been awarded personal chairs as professor of surgical sciences at their respective universities, both were president of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, being the only father and son to have done so in the Association’s 103-year history, and both were elected as president of their respective surgical college, with George being president of Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland from 2000 to 2002 and Rowan being elected as president of Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh from 2022 to 2025. George’s hobbies were travelling, gardening and DIY. He loved time with family and arranged many travelling adventures to Europe and North America. A highlight was a wonderful Caribbean cruise with Elizabeth, their three children and spouses, and seven grandchildren on the occasion of their golden wedding anniversary. George suffered a significant stroke on his 59th wedding anniversary. He had a gradual decline of his health over the following six months and died on 19 September 2023. He was 88.