Born in Stewarton, Ayrshire, Helen went to Kilmarnock Academy before graduating MB ChB from Glasgow University in 1947.

As a committed Christian she knew that she wanted to serve the poor of the world, but realised she needed to be trained. She pursued her training in obstetrics and gynaecology.

She completed the first part and also gained the clinical experience needed for the second part. Alas, the needs of the mission field had a more urgent claim on her life and in 1955 she sailed with her husband, Bryan, also a doctor, to Bihar state in India - one of the poorest, most populated, areas of the subcontinent.

For 35 years in Hiranpur village, in the tiny St Luke's Hospital, Helen endeavoured with great success (usually as the only obstetrician, ably assisted by the midwives she had trained) to deliver healthy babies. Also, to ensure a sense of wellbeing among their mothers, she taught them the fundamentals of family planning.

Gynaecological disease was no less important to her, as medical students and others could see when assisting her at St Luke's. She was a very skilful surgeon.

The reputation of St Luke's grew, to the extent that it became a highly popular place for medical students from all over the world to undertake their clinical "electives" in their final year of study.

This small hospital was also recognised by the Indian government, along with the finest of teaching hospitals, as a midwifery training institution.

Good time management is a feature of all exceptional people. Helen could manage five or six important tasks at the mission all at the same time, including the preparation of a meal for visiting medical students, a ward round, the preparation for a Caesarean section, dealing with the administration both of the hospital and of her church, writing letters to her many friends throughout the world and undertaking some necessary shopping.

She didn't hesitate to work some 20 hours a day if so required - emergency calls were frequent - but rose each morning at 5am to write and to read before meeting the demands on her time. She never complained.

She was an excellent cook but needed little in the way of kitchen equipment. It was astonishing to discover that her "oven" turned out to be a large tin box resting on two kerosene stoves, and from this she was able to produce the most excellent cakes.

During her earlier years at Hiranpur, Helen took a little time off to give birth to her three daughters - all born in her bedroom at the mission bungalow.

The centre of her life, they were carefully nurtured and educated and, like their parents, went on to become professionals in health care. Each school term a journey of several days by train was required to get them to school in south India.

Both Helen and Bryan received their MBE for their services to the poor in India and when they retired, but Helen will be remembered, even revered, by the many thousands of women in the Hiranpur area of Bihar whose survival and wellbeing she ensured with her skill and selfless dedication.

Her life is a role model for any doctor who aspires to the accolade of service rendered well beyond the ordinary call of duty.

After retirement, Helen had always intended to return to her father's house where she had lived as a child in Stewarton. Unfortunately, over the years, the property had gone beyond repair and so she and Bryan moved the few miles to a flat in Kilmarnock. In her last few years Helen was frail but for long after retirement she still retained her shrewd sense of humour.

After a fall, Helen suffered a short illness and died on February 5. A commemoration service was held at the Henderson Church, Kilmarnock, on February 23.

Her pleasures centred on her church, family and grandchildren and with that she was content.

By Gordon Dutton and James A Findlay