Dr. Halmond C. Dyer

HALMOND C. DYER, MB BS, MPH, CD, OBE

March 2, 1932 – June 19, 2020

We regret to announce the passing of Dr. HALMOND CHARLES DYER (“Hal”) on June 19, 2020, after a long illness.

Hal was born on March 2, 1932, the sixth of seven children, to Patrick Dyer and his wife Josephine of Plymouth, Montserrat, W.I. A stellar high school career culminated in his being awarded the coveted Leeward Islands Scholarship. Though a historian at heart, Hal elected to pursue a degree in medicine at the (then) University College of the West Indies.

He distinguished himself at university, graduating with a gold medal in Surgery. Hal moved on to Harvard University, where he completed a Master’s degree (MPH) at the Harvard University School of Public Health.

On his return to Jamaica, Hal established the much needed University Health Service. For some years he had dual roles at UWI: he was both Director of the Health Service and also Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, (Faculty of Medicine). In the latter post, one of his achievements was structuring the Family Practitioners Programme, and he was both lecturer and mentor to the students who enrolled.

He also assisted in setting up community health clinics, both on the campus and in areas in the island where such clinics were desperately needed. To further develop a spirit of ‘giving to the community,’ he encouraged student participation in this project. The August Town Clinic was a particular focus; Hal was dearly loved by his patients there.

Hal was a brilliant clinician and a gifted diagnostician, with a warm and reassuring beside manner. Yet he later developed a penchant for administration and spent a major part of his professional career in that field.

He had been, for some time, a consultant for the World Health Organization (WHO). When offered the job of Country Representative for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)—the American Regional Office of WHO—Hal moved to Trinidad and Tobago for a four-year tour of duty. Then followed promotion: Hal became Head (El Jefe) of the Office of Caribbean Programme Coordination, head-quartered in Barbados, serving the Caribbean, Central and South America.

Hal’s final position in the eastern Caribbean was Director of the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute in St. Lucia. Failing health, however, forced his retirement. He found a new home in south Florida, USA.

No account of Hal’s life would be complete without reference to his love—bordering almost on reverence—for the game of cricket. He was appointed, and was delighted to serve for many years, as Honorary Physician of the West Indies Cricket Board of Control. He collected every edition of Wisden. Attending a Test Match was the only pastime that could lure him from his professional duties!

Hal received numerous honours for his service to medicine and the community, including the following:

--UWI, when celebrating its first forty years of existence, named ten (10) alumni who had contributed significantly to the Caribbean region. Hal Dyer was one of those ten singled out for commendation.

--Jamaica, his adopted country, also honoured him, conferring the Order of Distinction--Commander Class-- on him (CD).

--Queen Elizabeth II, too, thanked him for his service to the Commonwealth by awarding him the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Hal’s passing leaves, to mourn him:

His widow, Dr. Alma Ashmeade-Dyer;

His children, Charles Dyer, Dr. Karen Dyer (David Wilkinson), Lesley Angela Dyer, Jonathan Dyer (Christine);

Grandchildren, Dr. Kristin Sharp (Tom), Natalie Hepburn, and Madeline Dyer;

His loving eldest sister, Daisy Nanton;

His three sisters-in-law;

Many nieces and nephews, several members of his extended family, and a host of colleagues and friends across the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Requiescat in Pace.

FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS:Funeral Mass will take place on Wednesday July 1, 2020 at 10:00 am at the Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, 345 South Military Trail, West Palm Beach, Florida 33415