Source : Perth Now news
The widely respected father of veteran broadcaster Peter Overton, John Herbert Overton AM, has died at 88 after a life of care, service and deep compassion.
Mr Overton died peacefully surrounded by his family, leaving behind a significant legacy in medicine and emergency care.
His obituary described a doctor whose “compassion and skill touched and saved so many lives”.
Peter has previously spoken of the close bond he shared with his father. In a 2020 interview with 9Honey, the Nine newsreader revealed how important those daily conversations had become.
“I talk to him every single night, I ring him and we chat about the day,” Peter told 9Honey at the time.
He also described his father as “a man of immense generosity of spirit.
“He’s the most beautiful human being,” he said.
Mr Overton built an extraordinary career as a pediatric anaesthetist, caring for children from the earliest and most fragile stages of life through to their teenage years.
Reflecting on that work in the same interview, Peter said his father’s role demanded a rare kind of person.
“I think to be a pediatric anaesthetist, dealing with the tiniest of premature babies through to teenagers, you’re a special person in your own right, and Dad has that in spades.”
Peter also credited his father with helping shape the person he became.
“I think I’m a very empathetic person, and I love talking and listening to people’s stories, and Dad is very much cut from that cloth,” he said.
“I suppose the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
An associate professor of anaesthesia at the University of Sydney, Mr Overton also worked at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead for decades, where he earned enormous respect from colleagues and families alike.
When he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2014, Peter spoke proudly of the esteem in which his father was held.
“Dad worked at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead for decades and he was the most beautiful doctor, revered by all,” Peter said.
“On a day like this, all the thousands of sick kids and their parents who he has treated over decades would be as proud of him as we are today.
“And mum’s part of that, too.”
Mr Overton received the honour for “significant service to medicine, particularly in the area of anaesthesia, through clinical, administration and advisory roles, and to professional organisations”.
His contribution reached well beyond hospital walls. According to his obituary, he played a key role in training the first class of paramedics in NSW and helped drive the establishment of intensive care paramedics across the state.
