Obituaries Australia

Dr. Francis Frederick Muecke, the noted surgeon and widower of Ada Crossley, the singer, died to-day.

Dr. Muecke was born in Adelaide in 1879, son of Mr. H. C. E Muecke. His first marriage in 1905, was to Ada Crossley, the famous singer, who died in 1929. He married in 1930 Jean McMurtrie, of Cumnock, Ayrshire, and with her visited Adelaide in 1935, after nearly 30 years' absence from Australia.

Educated at Prince Alfred College and the Adelaide University. Dr. Muecke joined the London Hospital in 1903, and rose to be consulting surgeon of the ear, nose and throat department there. He joined the Army as lieutenant in 1914, was present at the Suvia landing, and took part in the big offensives in France, before being transferred to the RAF as lieutenant-colonel. He was one of the leading ear, nose and throat specialists in London.

Dr. Muecke took his MB at Adelaide University in 1901, and worked for a year at the Adelaide Hospital before going to England.

One brother and three sisters survive. They are:—Mr. Andrew Muecke, of Stanley street. North Adelaide; Mesdames E. W. Denham, of Thorngate; and Voss-Smith, of Melbourne and Miss Dora Muecke, of Melbourne.