Dr. Charles Christopher Patrick McConnachie, a loving husband, father, grandfather, and friend, orthopedic surgeon and medical missionary, passed away Tuesday, November 27th 2007 at his home in Mthatha, South Africa.
An only child, Chris was born April, 25th 1937 in Stirling, Scotland, to Charles and Levia McConnachie. He attended medical school at London’s University College Hospital.
Chris met his wife Jennifer Farrow, a nurse, while they were both working at hospitals in London. They were married on June 6th 1964. The newlyweds moved to Redvers, Canada for eighteen months where Chris worked as a general practitioner and Jenny as a nurse. In 1969 they went to South Africa where they worked at Saint Barnabas Mission Hospital. This is where they first felt the call to serve in the Third World. After a year they moved to Winston Salem, North Carolina to complete Chris’s orthopaedic residency. Chris and Jenny then moved to Hendersonville, North Carolina where he started Hendersonville Orthopedic Associates in 1973. While living in Hendersonville, Chris and Jenny and their family were members of St. James Episcopal Church.
In 1981 he helped establish the African Medical Mission based in Hendersonville, North Carolina. St. James supported African Medical Mission from its beginning and this support has continued to the present time.
In 1983 he moved with his wife Jenny and their five children to Mthatha South Africa where he served as the only board certified orthopaedic surgeon in the Transkei region.
He and his wife became medical missionaries of the Episcopal Church in 1987.
Chris and Jenny are the parents of seven children and fourteen grandchildren: daughter Alexandra “Pandy” and her husband Dan Kealy of Hendersonville, North Carolina; daughter Natasha and her husband Gareth Desmond of Golden, Colorado; daughter Fiona and her husband Pierre Webber of Mthatha, South Africa; son Cameron and his wife Boudina McConnachie of Grahamstown, South Africa; son James and his wife Judy McConnachie of Portland, Oregon; son Michael McConnachie of East London, South Africa and son Bonga McConnachie of Butterworth, South Africa.
The medical situation in South Africa provided many challenges; Chris performed orthopedic surgeries and treated conditions such as tuberculosis of the spine, polio, congenital defects, and illnesses virtually unknown today in North America or Europe. When asked about the difficulties and sacrifices made by he and his family Chris replied “It just seems the natural thing to do”. Chris found tremendous satisfaction in his work and remained passionate about improving the quality of medical care for the people of the region.
Chris was acknowledged with many distinguished awards. In 2002 he was the winner of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Humanitarian Award. In 2006, he and Jenny were named “Officers of the Order of the British Empire” (OBE) in recognition of their long and valuable service in Africa. The nomination included a letter of support from Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the award was presented at Buckingham Palace by Prince Charles.
A funeral was held in Mthatha, South Africa on Wednesday December 5, 2007. Chris was buried in the grounds of his beloved Bedford Hospital where he worked for twenty-four years. A memorial in celebration of his life was held in Hendersonville during the spring, 2008. The “Chris McConnachie Memorial Fund” has been established to continue the work which he began.
Written by his daughter Alexandra “Pandy” Kealy, and AMM Board Member and Friend, Maureen Linneman
