12/06/1936 - 25/08/1925
James was born and raised in Melbourne and started at Wesley College in 1947 in Form 6. He excelled at his studies and was awarded the honour of Dux, or second in form, in almost every year at Wesley. This set him up for a lifetime of learning and teaching.
He fondly remembered his school masters Eddie Wells (the Junior School headmaster), Mr Andrews, Mr Tapp, Mr Williams in 1947, Mr Chesterfield in 1948, Mr Wells in 1949 plus Miss Krome for French, Mr Coonan for Art and Mr Nall for Greek and Roman History. James enjoyed his school days and continued his association with the school through hockey with Old Wesley until 1964.
He completed his medical studies at the University of Melbourne and trained in gastroenterology at leading hospitals in Melbourne and London before returning to Australia in 1969. In 1977, he became the first full-time Director of Gastroenterology at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and retained that position until he retired in 2001. During this time, he trained many gastroenterologists, including Peter Tagkalidis (OW1985). He had a particular empathy for his patients and was known to reassure them with his signature line, ‘Your job is to relax, my job is to worry.’
His interest in gastroenterology went deeper than just patient care and he concurrently had an intense research program into the causes of gastrointestinal bleeding and the development of Australia’s bowel cancer screening methods. Over the course of his career, he held many senior professional roles including President of the Gastroenterological Society of Australia and authored 194 research papers published in international medical journals, with his last one published in 2023, a testament to his endless contribution to knowledge.
After retiring, he became Senior Clinical Consultant in the National Cancer Control Initiative (2001-2006). Through his persuasive arguments about the clinical research data on gastrointestinal bleeding, he led the profession to convince the Australian government to introduce the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program. In 2017, he was awarded an Officer of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AO) for ‘distinguished service to medicine, to medical research, as a gastroenterologist, to innovative public health cancer screening programs and as a mentor to young clinicians.’
Beyond medicine, he was a passionate learner of history, politics and language. He learnt Latin and French at Wesley which gave him the ability to understand not only medical terminology, but the origin of words in English and the scientific names of plants. He is perhaps the only person who has read a Latin dictionary while holidaying on the beach at Aireys Inlet. His care for the environment led him to become a passionate conservationist and he enthusiastically supported the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.
James was also a caring family man and with Margaret, his wife of 63 years, they raised four kids, including David (OW1980) and James (OW1985) and he was very proud of his 14 grandchildren and step-grandchildren. James is survived by his brothers Richard (OW1958) and Andrew (OW1961).
James passed away peacefully at age 89 and leaves a legacy that is saving thousands of lives thanks to his lifetime of work to implement the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program.
Millions of Australians between the ages of 45 and 74 are now routinely invited to do the ‘poo test’ which detects the very early stages of bowel cancer. This simple test has already saved thousands of lives by enabling the early primordial cancer to be removed and prevent its progression into lethal stages.
How would he like to be remembered? If you have received your free test kit for the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program but haven’t yet done it, he would be keen for you to do it. It might just save your life.
Contributed by James St John (OW1985)
