Owen Gilbert Isbel
March 11, 1936 – October 4, 2022

DR OWEN Isbel retired to Busselton 31 years ago, having spent 30 years in Collie in general practice.
Such was his impact on the Collie community that tributes flowed for him on social media following his death, showing that time had not dimmed the memories of the people he served.
“He delivered all my kids,” was a common remark.
Or from a former Collie MLA, “He delivered all my children, made me cut the cord of one, got me squirted with blood and I nearly fainted, while he nearly fell over laughing out loud.”
“Owen had a definite love of Collie and its people,” one friend remarked.
Dr Isbel trained in a different era, when medicine was very much hands-on.
He told his wife, Lee, recently that he was taught to diagnose with his hands, and got a thorough grounding in anatomy.
His training was different to modern medical students, as there was no School of Medicine in WA at the time.
He and his fellow students had to go to South Australia for the first four or five years of their degrees.
“They came back in their fifth or sixth year, 13 of them, and were the first to graduate from the WA School of Medicine,” Lee said.
“They made a big fuss of them, with an elaborate ceremony in Winthrop Hall.”
Friendships made in those years endured for the rest of his life.
Owen Isbel was born in North Perth, and won a scholarship to Perth Modern School.
He was among those called up for National Service, entering as a private and emerging as a sergeant.
He met Lee in 1956 when she was 17 years old. They married in 1961 and came to Collie in 1962 when Owen bought Dr McPherson’s practice.
“Collie just sort of swallowed us up, people were wonderful to us, and we loved the place,” Lee said.
“We made so many friends and for us, while we enjoyed retirement in Busselton, Collie became home for us, and stayed that way.”
Their oldest son, Scott, was a baby when they arrived, and caused some drama when he developed appendicitis.
“We think he may have been one of the youngest in the world to have an appendectomy, although we didn’t prove that conclusively,” Lee said.
After that shaky start, they bought Dr Blair Malcolm’s house and immediately made staunch friends of their neighbours, Fred and Norma Scharf.
Fred taught Owen woodwork and gardening, and the gardening became quite competitive. 
There was a standing bet on who could produce the first ripe tomato before Christmas each year, and the fight to produce the biggest pumpkin led to Owen ripping the cord from his pyjamas and dipping one end in a container of sugar water and the other on to the pumpkin in the belief it would make it grow bigger.
Owen became a very skilled woodturner, and has left a piece still unfinished on the lathe.
There was no vet in the town at that time, and Lee recalls people turning up on their doorstep with sick and injured animals to be treated.
When a dog was causing problems because it was on heat, Drs Isbel and Brian Smith took it over to the hospital and spayed it.
“It came on heat once more so they weren’t sure they had done it right, but it never had any pups so they thought something must have worked,” Lee said.
Owen joined in community activities with enthusiasm, playing golf, with a single figure handicap, and partnering Ted Cocker to win the club’s men’s foursomes championships. He was golf club president in 1969 and 1970, when State Governor Sir Douglas Kendrew brought his WA Governor’s golf team to town.
“He was always seated next to Sir Douglas as they shared a liking for claret, the Gov was more experienced at this caper unfortunately,” club stalwart Ed Riley said.
“It was hard to get an appointment on Thursday afternoons when the scroungers’ competition was played.”
Ed recalled one occasion when Owen was unable to move a brand new expensive four wheel drive vehicle from where he had parked it because Reg Driffill, the local police sergeant, had put a red sticker on it.
“Owen was a prominent member of the Collie Lions Club for many years, and owned a few bricks in the Collie Workers Club,” Ed said.
“Following a long and stressful day at work, Owen liked nothing better than to join his mates in going marroning and fishing, mainly at a favourite spot on Wellington Weir.
“Good catches, cold beer, steak, onions, sausages and a good fire – he even had a barbecue cooked on a shovel when someone forgot the hot plate. I would have been in real trouble if I had forgotten the beer.”
When a water skiing club was formed, Owen and Lee were foundation members, enjoying many weekends on Glen Mervyn dam.
He followed Lee out to the Collie Race Club where she had a keen interest, and served as the club doctor for race meetings.
Three more children had been born in Collie, a second son, Clayton, and daughters Melissa and Jane.
“Collie was a great place for us, and the children say the same, they loved growing up in Collie,” Lee said.
Owen had expressed a wish to have a private funeral.
“We were together for 67 years, married for 61 years,” Lee said. 
“He died peacefully, in his own bed. He just went to sleep, and didn’t wake up. I will miss him.”