Compassionate in work and life
Obituaries
Dr Anthony (Tony) Smith - Born January 31 1940, Died March 15 2025
Tony was born in Streaky Bay on the West Coast and moved to Berri in the Riverland as a young boy.
His family moved to Adelaide where he attended Rostrevor College and then Sacred Heart College for his final school years.
He enjoyed the Marist Brothers and made firm friends there in Fred Tosolini and John Turnbull, whom he met again at medical school. They invited Tony to attend their Rosary Society gathering which is where he met his wife-to-be, Helen Oswald.
Medical school had its challenges and after ill health and failing his exams in second year, he was, in his own words “in a dark place” and had decided to give up.
When Helen found this out, she visited him at home and talked to him for hours, encouraging him to eat and bringing him to his senses as well as cheering him up.
Tony passed his final exams in 1966 and the couple was married on December 10 that year.
Describing Helen as his “inspiration”, Tony loved her dearly and she supported him in all his professional and general interests, including his time as club doctor at Woodville Football Cub in the 1970s and ’80s.
Helen was heard to say on more than one occasion that the family “played second fiddle” to Woodville. He loved the role and was made a life member of the club.
Children Kate, Bill and Anthony started their schooling at Our Lady of the Manger at Findon. Tony would be called upon to tend to the Dominican Sisters of the parish when they were sick. Occasionally he would consult in the home lounge room with Kate his assistant as he stitched a cousin’s nasty gash or gave them a shot of penicillin.
The family moved to Prospect and the children attended the Dominican schools of Blackfriars and St Dominic’s. Prospect has been their parish ever since.
Faith played a major part in informing Tony’s decisions in life. In 2011 he was invested into the Order of Malta. He embodied the spirit of the Order ‘Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum’ (Nurturing, witnessing, and protecting the faith; and serving the poor and the sick).
Both the Order of Malta and the Woodville Football Club posted moving tributes to Tony at the time of his death.
The Order described him as the backbone of the South Australian Chapter, attending and assisting with monthly meetings, Lourdes Day Masses, retreats, biannual conferences, reflection mornings and fundraisers.
Together with his wife Helen he prepared and served food, hampers and Christmas cakes for the homeless at the Adelaide Day Centre – a gesture of love and service he undertook with great compassion.
Throughout his life, Tony demonstrated a deep love and humble service with and for the poor and sick both as a medical doctor and as a member of the Order.
The Medical Journal of Australia insidenews, the quarterly publication of the Australian and NZ College of Radiologists, marked his passing with an obituary outlining his involvement in the field of radiology.
After two years in general practice and with a keen interest in sports medicine, he decided to specialise in radiology, working as a registrar at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital under the lead of Dr Bill Tucker.
He was the first registrar to work at the then Adelaide Children’s Hospital, heralding a long association with the Women’s and Children’s Hospital which he maintained for the rest of his career.
He shared his time working in private practice for Benson Radiology, where he was resident paediatric expert. Tony loved working with children, listening to their jokes, trading bad jokes and helping to make them healthy. He had a patient, calm but authoritative demeanour that could get the most anxious and threatening parent ‘on-side’.
Tony loved writing letters, especially to his grandchildren, encouraging them in life. In a letter to one of his granddaughters, Tony wrote that he always found that his faith was a great support, reinforced by his mother’s faith.
“A little prayer never goes amiss,” he advised.
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