Jehangir S. Vazifdar

Jehangir (Jay) Sohrab Vazifdar of Meredith, NH, passed away surrounded by family on October 29, 2016. He was 93. "Dr. Jay" as he was known to so many, was born iMarch 20, 1923 in Poona, India, the only child of Dr. Sohrab Shapur Vazifdar and Mary (Wadia) .

Jay was sent to England at age 10, to attend the Berkhamsted School for Boys. He was the first Indian student enrolled there. As a day student, Jay lived with the Reeve family for several years, until his parents moved to England before war broke out. Each summer, Jay would travel by train from Berkhamsted to Marseilles where he boarded a steamship from the P & 0 line and journeyed across the Mediterranean, down the Suez Canal, through the Gulf of Aden, and across the Arabian Sea to Bombay. He did this alone. Jay adored his years at Berkhamsted and it was there that cricket became his passion. In later years, he was very proud to be
inducted into the Maryleborne Cricket Club. He even played at Lord's.

After his graduation in 1941, Jay completed his pre-medical training at Queens College at Cambridge University in the middle of WWII. He served in the Home Guard during the war and made several trips to London during the Blitz. He described the whistling sounds of the bombs,
and then the silence right before they detonated. He resumed his medical training at St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College in London from 1945-1948. After completion of his studies, Jay continued his education with fellowships and residencies over several years.

Dr. Jay began his medical practice in 1953 in Chesham, and in 1954 his father joined him as his medical partner. They were in practice together until Jay became disenchanted with the National Health Service and emigrated to the US in 1963. After practicing briefly in Lowell, MA, Dr. Jay found Meredith on a weekend drive to the country and fell in love with the town. He went into practice with Dr. Tom Nadeau, with whom he worked until 1975. In 1971 he had the great fortune of bringing Bob Jones, PA, into the practice for the final stage of Bob's clinical training. Bob stayed on with Dr. Jay and together they created a well-loved practice that moved to Main Street for 15 years.

Throughout his career, Dr. Jay practiced the art of medical hypnosis, which was taught to him over many years by his father. Dr. Jay believed very strongly in the correlation of mind and body and enjoyed using his skills to help people. He regularly traveled to Boston to teach medical
students at several hospitals there, and was an active member and ultimately President of the New England Society for Clinical Hypnosis. He continued to utilize his hypnosis skills up until a few weeks before he died.

Throughout his career, Dr. Jay was on the staff at Lakes Region General Hospital; he began the Emergency Department at LRGH with a group of colleagues in the late 1970s, providing the community with its first 24-hour Emergency Care. In 1989, Dr. Jay sold his practice, worked for a walk-in clinic for a few years, and then ended his career doing the family practice that he loved back in Meredith. He retired at age 81, often working with his beloved dog Lucky under his desk. Dr. Jay loved medicine, and considered it such an honor to help people, and he always told his family, "My patients come first."

Dr. Jay married the love of his life, Elizabeth Sargent, in 1969. He always said they were destined to be together. Their family included Betsy's two young daughters, which Jay happily claimed as his own, and their son Andrew, born in 1971. Jay's family also included many
beloved dogs through the years, which he sometimes preferred to people.

Family was the greatest joy of Jay's life, and he loved retirement with time for family gatherings, grandchildren stopping by, and Skyping with cousins in faraway countries. He loved his land, cricket, tennis, cars and all kinds of gadgets. He was one of the first doctors in the area to use a computer in the 1980's, and enjoyed surfing the web daily until his death.

Dr. Jay is survived by his wife of 47 years, Betsy; his daughters Susan Drover and her husband John of Center Barnstead, NH, Carolyn Crosby and her husband Peter of Meredith, and his son Andrew Vazifdar and his wife Amy of Manchester NH; his grandchildren Christopher Drover and
his wife Rose Mary, Carolyn Drover, Benjamin and Hannah Crosby, and numerous cousins from across the globe.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Lakes Region Visiting Nurses Association, 186 Waukewan St. Meredith, NH. 03253 or The NH Humane Society, PO Box 572, Laconia, NH. 03247