Kampala — THERE was an outpouring of grief and at the same time a celebration of a fulfiling life yesterday as mourners remembered Dr. Corti Piero, the late director of St. Mary's Hospital, Lacor, in Gulu.

The 78-year-old veteran Italian doctor died of cancer on Easter Sunday in Milan hospital, Italy, where he was admitted in January.

The Archbishop of Northern Uganda Catholic Diocese, John Baptist Odama, said Dr. Corti was committed to his faith and deeply loved the people he worked for. Lacor is a Catholic-founded hospital.

"He loved Uganda so much and was committed to its people. He did not want to go away even in difficult times of Amin and the current insurgency. In the 1980s, he was advised to close Lacor Hospital, but his reply was that if he did, the people would have nowhere to get medical attention. He refused to close Lacor," Odama said.

Odama said Dr. Corti's body would be flown back to Uganda next week to be buried at Lacor, where his wife Lucille was also buried in 1996.

The deputy Italian ambassador/charge d'affaires, Gabriel Dimuzio, described Dr. Corti as the best known Italian in Uganda.

"It is sad that he passed away, but even after his death I am convinced that his work at Lacor will continue to help the people of Acholiland and Uganda in general. As Italians we are proud of what the Cortis have done to this country, especially northern Uganda," Dimuzio said.

The Gulu LC5 chairman, Lt. Col. Walter Ochora, said, "Death has robbed us of a dedicated person who worked under very difficult conditions. His death brings back painful memories of the death of his wife Lucille Teasdale and his successor, Dr. Matthew Lukwiya."