The funeral service of Dr. Patrick Xavier Bermingham, of New Grange, Wymington Road, Rushden, former medical officer of health for the Rushden Urban, Wellingborough Rural and Urban, Higham Ferrers Borough and Irthlingborough Urban Councils, is due to be held at St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church, Rushden, this morning. Dr. Bermingham died in Rushden Hospital after a long illness on Tuesday. He was aged 53. He came to the area and took up his positions in 1949 and had lived at Wellingborough, Higham Ferrers and Rushden. His annual reports for the authorities he served were a model of their kind and often included remarks very much to the point, particularly on old people’s welfare. A graduate of the National University of Ireland in Dublin, he obtained degrees of M.B., B.Sc., B.A.O., and N.U.I., and a diploma of public health. He was born in Ireland, where his father was a dentist. He was a member of the British Medical Association and, as a Roman Catholic, a member of the Catholic Association, which helps church members. Tributes Dr. Bermingham was interested in sport, played rugby for his school and university and was a former vice-caption of Wellingborough Golf Club. He was discharged as a major from the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1946, after serving in West Africa, France and Belgium. Tributes have been paid to Dr. Bermingham by the clerks to the authorities he served and the doctors of the area. He leaves a widow, Mrs. Eva Bermingham, and five children, Gerald (24), who is married, Patrick (23), Diann (18), Catherine (15) and Evanna (13).