1933–2017

José was born in Barcelona and his first memory was of diving under the table to hide from Franco's bombs during the Spanish Civil War. Aged 12, he was taken out of school and sent to work at his uncle's dental lab; his family needed the income. But he loved studying and it was this that finally drove him away from Spain, after he'd automatically failed his first year medical exams because he'd attended a student demonstration. He ended up in London, at the YMCA and with a job as a dental technician on Harley Street, speaking almost no English. He worked seven days a week and attended evening classes at Ealing Tech for O and A levels. He then applied to dental schools all over the world, including UCLA, which sent a letter back saying, 'At your age most American dentists are thinking of retiring'. But José won a place at Kings College, London and qualified in 1970.

José lectured at Stockholm University's dental school for a year and then became a lecturer and senior lecturer at University College Hospital, London until 1982. He also took over the prestigious Moreton Road practice in Oxford and divided his time between this and his other practice at 90 Harley Street. He had a legendary reputation for clinical expertise and judgement. José's patients included plenty of the rich and famous, but he was never starstruck, always treating everyone with the same interest and kindness. Admittedly, he was rather tickled by one particular claim to fame – being used as an alibi for a suspect in a Colin Dexter novel. This suspect 'between 3.45 and 4.45 had been sitting in the chair of Mr J. Balaguer-Morris, a distinguished and unimpeachable dental surgeon practicing in Summertown'. Luck was never part of the success he achieved. It was built on an amazingly strong desire to be the best he could be, to provide as much as he could for the people he loved and to earn respect from the people he respected – and maybe his Catalan work ethic, humility and winning smile helped!

Travel was a big part of Jose's life. Having been discouraged from his first interest – anthropology – he always maintained a deep interest in the people and places of the world, grabbing every chance to attend international dental conferences and researching the place and the culture before every trip... to Japan, Mexico, Cuba...

José is survived by his wife, Ann-Britt, daughter, Anna, and two granddaughters.