A gentleman and a scholar

Radiologist’s brilliance complemented by humility, devotion to faith and family

By: Scott Billeck

Dr. Ian Sutherland’s curriculum vitae runs 10 pages, a tome that stands as a testament to a lifetime of academic accomplishment and professional recognition.

Over a distinguished 50-year clinical career, the radiologist wore many hats. He nurtured a passion for nuclear medicine, spent years in academia as a professor, led the University of Manitoba’s department of radiology, and later served as vice-president of the Health Sciences Centre.

But those who knew him best — his children, colleagues and members of his church community — remember not just what he accomplished, but the life he built around it.

He was a devoted husband to Eva for more than 60 years, a father of four — three of whom followed him into health care — and a man whose deep Christian faith inspired decades of service and mission work at one of Winnipeg’s inner-city churches.

“He was devoted to everything he did,” said Sutherland’s youngest son, Eric.

“They were all important to him. And whatever he was involved in certainly got 100 per cent of his attention.

“You wouldn’t really have an idea about what he did if you just met him and were talking to him. That’s almost a rare combination of humility and accomplishment.”

Sutherland died on Jan. 21 at the age of 92.

He was born in Cultus Lake, B.C., and his family moved eastward during his childhood years, closer to extended family in Manitoba who were employed by Hudson’s Bay Company. Others farmed in Dauphin and ran successful businesses in Winnipeg.

Both of his parents were deaf, and those early years taught him humility and how to look beyond disability.

“He experienced living inside a disabled culture at an early age,” Eric said. “There were all sorts of things people thought about deaf people, and he would hear what they were saying right in front of him, and in many ways felt powerless to act out.

“Dad always saw people for who they were. It didn’t matter what their background was, who they knew, where they were from. The most important person was always the one right in front of him.”

Sutherland studied at the University of Manitoba, earning a master’s degree in physics and, eventually, his medical doctorate in 1960. Before committing to medicine, he considered ministry and education.

“He wondered, too, about surgery but was gently told he didn’t have the hands for that,” Eric said.

His children — Scott, Mike and the late Karen — were born during his medical training in Winnipeg. Eric arrived later in Pinawa while Sutherland worked for Atomic Energy of Canada, advising on the medical and biological effects of radiation.

Eva, who died in 2016, was instrumental during those training years. A librarian, she supported the family while Ian completed medical school.

“They took their turns,” Eric said. “As mom put it, the only time she ever saw him, and he took a holiday, was when she had a baby. It was a lot of give and take at different times. And dad and mom were a real team in bringing up the family.”

By 1970, Sutherland was head of the section of nuclear medicine in the department of radiology at HSC. He joined his alma mater as an associate professor in the early 1970s and “semi-retired” in 1997 as vice-president of the HSC.

Over his career, he served on dozens of provincial and national boards, published nearly two dozen peer-reviewed journal articles and presented nationally and internationally.

“He was very talented, very easy to get along with, a gentleman and a great leader,” said Dr. Ted Lyons OC, who worked with Sutherland for many years at the U of M and succeeded him as radiology department head in 1990.

“He supported me — I was the head of ultrasound — and for that I was forever grateful.”

Lyons remembered Sutherland’s leadership as consistently even-tempered. He never heard him swear or lose his cool, and he always kept perspective.

“Issues that seemed like the end of the world for some people were just a blip in the scope of things for him,” Lyons said. “He would look at it, he would analyze it, he would deal with it and then move on to the next thing. He dealt with issues very calmly, very considerately. Everybody found him a fair and even manager. It was a pleasure to work with him.”

Lyons also credited him as forward-thinking, something he said is not always common among department heads.

“He was very good at looking ahead and promoting new technologies in all of the various areas,” Lyons said.

Sutherland’s so-called “semi-retirement” was more of a shift in pace than a stop.

Though his resumé ends in the late ’90s, he spent the next two decades at Nuclear Medicine Consultants, the private clinic he had founded early in his career.

“I think he knew he would stay sharper longer (if he kept working), and he did,” Eric said.

Sutherland kept driving well into his late 80s — far too long, Eric jokes.

He eventually stopped, reluctantly, after a fractured neck from a fall in the winter of 2017 and a broken hip that September.

“He did get back to work (after the neck fracture),” Eric said. “There was a bit of a tug-of-war in the family if he should.”

Though he never entered ministry professionally, his faith drew him and Eva into a life of service at Young United Church on Furby Street.

The inner-city setting was a stark contrast to their suburban life.

“We are better versions of ourselves for the experience,” the family wrote in his obituary.

“He was brilliant, and he was accomplished, but he was so humble, quiet, constant and steady,” said Noelle Bowles, who ministered at Young United Church for 11 years while Ian and Eva attended. “He had time for everyone else’s stories and everyone else’s experiences, which his resume might suggest he was too important for. But to him, they were as important as he was.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca