EVEN after he retired, Dr Philip Ladds was lending his scientific mind to those he could help for as long as he could.

The Kingscliff resident was yesterday granted the honour of being made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his service to veterinary science as a clinician, academic, educator, researcher, author and member of professional associations as part of the national Australia Day honours.

Growing up on a banana farm at West Burleigh on the Gold Coast, Dr Ladds, 78, attended Murwillumbah High School.

He embarked on a long career in veterinary science after graduating from the University of Queensland in 1961, the year he met his wife, Jennifer.

While he has suffered from Parkinson's disease for the past 18 years and suffered a stroke in 2015, Dr Ladds was generous with his knowledge for as long as he was able, Mrs Ladds said.

"Once he finished (his latest book), he then went and volunteered at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary," she said.

"So he didn't quite give up and he did really enjoy it until he couldn't cope with it anymore.

"It's only that he's been halted by this disease... otherwise he would have kept going."

The couple have lived in Kingscliff for the past eight years and were previously based in Lismore, Tasmania and in Townsville for 28years.

Dr Ladds completed his PhD thesis, Sequential Studies of Ovine Listeric Abortion, in Kansas, US.

His passion, Mrs Ladds said, revolved around pathology and investigating animals' cause of death.

"I think he just got really interested in why the animal died... and solving a problem," she said.

"That was what Philip was interested in: when the animal died, (knowing) what caused the disease and why it died."

While his profession has changed a great deal since 1961, particularly with the development of DNA technology, Mrs Ladds said her husband's passion for the field never waned.

And it's taken them across the globe.

"I think he had a great passion for educating people," she said.

"He loved that side of things. He also loved the research. Every time they do a PhD they have to do a research program and that took him overseas."

During his time at James Cook University, where he was a senior lecturer and later an associate professor and founding head of the Post Graduate School of Tropical Veterinary Science's pathology department, he grew keenly interested in crocodiles.

"He went to New Guinea, for crocodiles, and he went to Indonesia for turtles. He had a student who was looking at diseases in turtles and why they died, so he went up there and supervised that."

Between 1997 and 1998, he was a professor of veterinary pathology at Ross University in the West Indies. Dr Ladds is also a member of the Australian Society of Veterinary Pathology, among a host of other professional organisations.

He was a senior veterinary pathologist with the Department of Primary industries in Launceston, Tasmania, from 1999 to 2002.

His latest work, Pathology of Australian Native Wildlife, was published by the CSIRO in 2009 before he retired. Mrs Ladds said it was "wonderful" for her husband to be recognised for his many years of work.

"I just think it's absolutely wonderful because I know how hard he's worked over the years," she said.

"It's a recognition of that particular person's contribution to the Australian scientific, and in this respect the veterinary science, contribution that he's made and the effort that he's put in, in so many ways."

While his medical situation makes communication difficult, DrLadds expressed in a statement his "sincere thanks and appreciation to his colleagues who considered he has made a significant contribution to veterinary pathology in Australia and overseas to support his nomination".

Dr Ladds said he was "humbled by the honour and would also like to thank the committee of the Order of Australia for making this award possible".

Egan honoured

THE late Margaret Anne Egan, of Murwillumbah, was granted an OAM on Friday for her service to the Tweed community.

Mrs Egan's service included her time with Rotary District 9640 (including assistant governor from 2015-16), the Rotary Club of Mt Warning, the Sacred Heart Catholic Parish of Murwillumbah, the Murwillumbah District Business Chamber and as a solicitor at Egan Simpson Lawyers and Solicitors, where she had worked since 1980.

Mrs Egan had previously received the Double Ruby Paul Harris Fellowship in 2016, the Woman of the Year Wonders of Women Outstanding Achievement Award for Tweed Women's Service in 2014, and the Paul Harris Fellowship Award in the early 2000s.