Harry Cecil Rowsell, O.C., DVM, DVPH, Ph.D., LL.D, DSC

died peacefully after a brief illness and a determined struggle

with Parkinson's disease on February 3, 2006.

Dr. Rowsell was born in Toronto in 1921.

He served in the North Atlantic in the Royal Canadian Navy in WWII. After his return from overseas, he took a degree in Veterinary Medicine at the Ontario Veterinary

College. He completed a PhD at the University of

Minnesota. Dr. Rowsell taught Pathology in the

Veterinary schools at the University of Guelph,

at the University of Saskatchewan in

Saskatoon and in the medical school at the University of Ottawa. He built the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) and was its first executive director. He conducted research and published on atherosclerosis, hemophilia and other topics. Research fellowships and professional awards have been established

in his honour.

SCAW’s Rowsell Award was established in 1992 to honour Dr. Rowsell, who was known for his commitment in fostering the dual goals of good science and the humane treatment of animals. Dr. Rowsell was a member of the SCAW Board of Trustees from 1983 to 1986. He was also the first recipient of the award. The Rowsell Award is given annually to a person who is known for her/his commitment to good science and humane treatment of animals used in research, testing and teaching.

The welfare of animals was always a prime interest of his, and his work contributed to his being invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada, the first veterinarian so honoured. Well known and well traveled, a member of many professional associations and societies, Dr. Rowsell had friends and colleagues around the world. His work took him to the trap-lines of Ontario, the ice floes off Newfoundland, and to each continent. He seemed to know everyone in Fenelon Falls where he and his wife Anne enjoyed a happy retirement. Harry loved swimming and dogs and cats and his family; a good man who lived a wonderful life.

Married September 14, 1946 to Anne Bradshaw he enjoyed a long happy and fruitful marriage. Predeceased by his parents Joseph Bede and Ida May and his brother Baxter. Survived and missed by his wife Anne, his twin brother Roy, his daughter Carole, his three sons Paul, Craig and John, his daughters-in-law Lin and Kristi and his grandchildren, Bronwyn, Claire, Philip and Graham, his nieces and nephews, and a large extended family.