Aubrey de Vere Bourke was born in Ballina, Co Mayo, on March 25th, 1914, the son of solicitor Henry C. Bourke and Eleanor Bourke (nΘe Macauley).
After an early education at Mount St Mary's in England, he went to Edinburgh University to study medicine.
Following his education, Aubrey returned to practise in Ballina in 1939 and remained there as a general practitioner for more than 60 years. His medical knowledge, his kindness to patients and his support of the needy were key to a very fruitful life as a GP. He retired from practice one week before his death on July 16th.
Aubrey would have seen Ireland in its most depressed, socially restricted mode, yet he always had a positive attitude to all around him.
In 1940, he married Tessa (nΘe O'Donnell), who was also a doctor, and together they brought up a family of four boys and one girl. It was a family life of great learning, culture and music.
Their careful guidance produced an outstanding family: Oliver, in medical practice in New Zealand; Aubrey, a medical doctor; Henry, a barrister; Adrian, a solicitor who in 1991 served as president of the Law Society; but it is through Mary (Robinson) that Aubrey's family most prominently caught the public attention.
Mary inherited Aubrey's social conscience and has displayed it both as President of Ireland and as United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights. And it was natural that Aubrey should enjoy and take huge satisfaction from Mary's term as President of a socially changing Ireland.
I knew Aubrey very well since 1974 because he was for 20 years chairman of United Drug plc. He was Michael Durcan's close friend and when a wise head was needed to chair the growing company, Aubrey Bourke was the natural choice.
He played a significant role in transforming a small, regional wholesaler into the largest player in Ireland. His independent spirit, sharp intellect and twinkling sense of humour made our working relationship a pleasure in the roughly 10 years of overlap .
Dr Bourke took board events very seriously and always responded to executives' need for time and guidance. I remember key decisions relating to the early growth of our company which required his firm influence and wise head to get the right results. He was always quick to spot and question badly developed propositions.
We became good friends, and as time passed our discussions over a glass of sherry ranged from political developments, to sport, to literature, for Dr Bourke was Edmund Burke's educated man who knew "something about everything and everything about something ".
I think that "something" was a little more private as it related to his humanity and ability to care for people as a doctor, a friend, a father and a grandfather. He was prepared to give time and energy to those who needed it. It was a style of caring that is sadly being stifled by modern bureaucracy.
Aubrey's life was not without considerable personal sadness. He lost his wife Tessa in 1973 when she was only 60. Later, in 1986, his second son, Aubrey, a partner in the Ballina practice, died at the age of 43. His family was crucial to his existence, and in later years he derived great satisfaction from involvement with his 21 grandchildren.
If Dr Bourke is primarily remembered as the father of a President of Ireland, he will not regret it. He was justifiably proud of Mary's huge contribution. He was aware of her intellect and her influence on a socially changing society. But most importantly, I believe he was proud of Mary's humanity and caring both as President and as UN Commissioner.
He thoroughly enjoyed travelling with her on official visits, and was frequently struck by her concern for the less well-off citizens of the world.
Aubrey Bourke, while primarily a family man, found time to indulge an expert interest in horse-racing, rugby - indeed, all sports - and his beloved gardening. His memory of past events was phenomenal, but most refreshing was his interest, at all times, in the present and the future.
His cultured, concerned, humane approach may be a fast disappearing lifestyle, and our resulting world is a poorer place.
J.L.