In Memoriam: Dr. Tom Elston

The following obituary was written by fellow ABVP Feline Diplomate, Dr. Philip Shanker:

"The feline veterinary community lost a long standing leader with Tom Elston’s death. Tom was one of a core group of feline doctors that embarked on taking the AAFP from essentially a club to its current international status. He served on many committees and was elected AAFP president in the mid 1990s. He helped create the stepping stone Feline Academy and then convinced the AVMA/ ABVP that feline medicine was in fact a specialty worthy group. He was among the first group of doctors to achieve ABVP board certification Tom started one of the first feline only practices in New England in the early 1980s and grew it into a very successful practice. Later in his career Tom decided to head west and created a similar scenario in his Southern California practice.

On a personal level I met Tommy as an intern in Boston, MA in 1977.  As overworked and underpaid new veterinarians, we learned to count on each other for help with cases. Tom was a great guy to work with - calm, knowledgeable and hard working. After the internship we parted ways, Tom staying in Boston and I moved to the west coast. Five years later we discovered we were both new owners of feline practices. For the next 40 years Tommy and I developed a strong professional and personal relationship with growing practices and expanding families. For me and likely others there will always be an empty seat that can’t be filled at our feline meetings. It is difficult to put into words the impact of losing Tom.

Clearly feline medicine owes a debt to Tom for his lifetime dedication to improving our feline specialty status."