Obituary of Ibrahim AMARA

AMARA, Ibrahim Benjamin (Ibe)- Ibe passed away peacefully at St. Mary 's on the Lake Hospital in Kingston in his 93rd year with his family around him - his wife Ruth of 62 years, his children Adrian (Peter), Bruno (Gillian), Catherine, and Daphne (Jeremy) and beloved grandchildren Simon and Nathaniel, Ruby, Forrest and Ella. He leaves relatives in West Africa, England and the United States. Ibe was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa. He grew up in the country with his mother before moving to Freetown to live with his father where he helped in his goldsmith shop. With encouragement and help of family, Ibe graduated from the Prince of Wales high school in Freetown and earned a scholarship to study medicine at Birmingham University in 1947. It was in Birmingham in 1949 that he met his true love Ruth, and where they were married in 1954. He returned to Sierra Leone in 1955 to practice medicine and to start a family with Ruth. The family spent some time in England between 1958-62, while Ibe completed training in tropical medicine at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and psychiatry at Maudsley Hospital, London, England. After working as a consultant psychiatrist with the Sierra Leone Government for four years, as Director of the Catherine Mills Rehabilitation Centre, Psychiatric Hospital in Liberia for three years and as a Registrar Locum Tenens in England for six months, Ibe eventually ended at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario with his family in 1969. Ibe obtained his Fellowship for the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in 1972. He was Director of the Metcalf Clinic, Outpatients Department at Kingston Psychiatric Hospital from 1978 until he retired in 1990. He maintained a private practice in Kingston until 2000. Outside of medicine, Ibe was keen on sports, especially track and field and tennis. He also enjoyed opera with Ruth, and spent hours listening to classical music and reading poetry. Ibe and Ruth were also avid bridge players (Ibe was more avid than Ruth). They enjoyed travelling together, Ibe having a particular fondness for Switzerland, his beloved wife' s birth country. Ibe never tired of learning, studying German in his later years. Nothing, however, gave Ibe greater joy than being surrounded by his children and grandchildren. They were the reward for his life's work. The Amara family extends their deepest appreciation to the wonderful staff, students and volunteers at St. Mary' s of the Lake for their kind and compassionate care. A Celebration of Ibe' s Life will be held in the Reception Centre of the James Reid Funeral Home, 1900 John Counter Blvd., Kingston (entering from the rear parking lot doors) on Monday, June 20, 2016 from 3:00-5:00pm, with a time to share memories at 3:30pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Ontario Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Canadian Diabetes Association or the Canadian Cancer Society.