OBITUARY Ellen Smith (Dr Helena Faul) 28.12.1927 – 8.2.2014 Dr Ellen Faul, founder of Tshilidzini Hospital in Vhembe, Limpopo, and first female head of a psychiatry department at a South African university (Medunsa), died on Saturday at the age of 86. Dr Faul, who was one of 3 female members of the class of 1950 of the University of Pretoria Medical Faculty, went with her husband, Dr Nico Smith, to the then Vendaland in 1956 to establish a mission church and hospital. Today Tshilidzini Hospital is the 6th largest training hospital in South Africa. The couple moved to Stellenbosch in 1966 where Ellen taught in the Psychology and Nico in the Theology departments. Ellen subsequently specialised in Psychiatry and taught at Medunsa after the couple left Stellenbosch for Mamelodi, Pretoria in 1982. At the time they had to obtain special permission to live in the township as the group areas act was still in sway. It was Ellen who insisted that they actually take up residence in the midst of Nico’s Uniting Reformed Church Mamelodi West congregation, after attending a retreat addressed by the Henri Nouwen, the Dutch Roman Catholic theologian and author of The Wounded Healer. Part of their ministry was establishing Koinonia, an organisation that defied Apartheid by bringing black and white South Africans together for every-day activities like sharing meals or visiting each other’s houses. Ellen specialised further in Child Psychiatry and opened a private practice after her retirement from Medunsa in 1992. She still conducted weekly ward rounds with psychiatrist in training at Weskoppies Hospital until 2012. She received an Honorary Doctorate from Whitford College in Washington, USA (1987), and merit awards from the SA Society of Child Psychiatrists and the Society of Psychiatrists (2007). Nico died in 2010 and Ellen continued living on their smallholding near Bronkhorstspruit where she and her favourite and only surviving dog were surrounded by her beloved trees and aloes. She is survived by three daughters and 5 grandchildren. A memorial service was held at 10:00 on Saturday 15 February 2014 in the Melodi ya Tshwane Uniting Reformed Church, corner Bosman and Madiba Streets, Pretoria. Drs Nico Smith and Ellen Faul Dr Ellen Faul .