Yusuf Dawood who was a popular Sunday Nation columnist for 38 years died on Sunday, January 29.
Apart from being a columnist, Dawood was a successful medical doctor having worked at Aga Khan Hospital from 1961.
The veteran columnist wrote the popular Surgeon’s Diary where he talked about his profession and interaction with patients.
Dawood breathed his last aged 94 in his home at United Kingdom.
He had relocated to United Kingdom aged 90 years in what he described as ‘need to be taken care of by his children.’
The news of his passing was broken by his son Jaan Yusuf Kodwavwalla.
"My dad slipped away from us in the early hours of this morning. May his soul rest in peace and may the gods look after him," Jaan revealed.
In his column, Dawood covered what he used to refer as his four wives.
The four wives were; his love for writing, passion for his profession as a surgeon, Rotary Club activities and his wife Marie Kodwavwalla.
His love for writing was always seen in what he termed as ‘medical sermon’ every Sunday at Sunday Nation.
He would use the column to wittily and in a layman’s language explain to readers the complex intrigues in medical field.
He had to stop writing when he was 90 years after rheumatism made it difficult for him to write.
As a surgeon, Dawood specialized in breast surgery after seeing growing cases of breast cancer in Kenya.
True to his passion for surgery, he performed surgeries until he was 86 years old before he called it a day.
As a Rotarian, Dawood used his Surgeon’s Diary to enlighten Kenyans about the activities of Rotary Club.
He rose to become president of all Rotary clubs in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia.
Dawood was a family man and had undying love for his dear wife Marie.
This could be seen through his passionate description of her in his columns and he often attributed his success to the support he got from Marie.
