Bimal Aichroy wore many hats but he will be remembered by those closest to him as a loving family man.

The widely-respected doctor, who lived in Wagga for more than 30 years before moving to the Mid North Coast, has died aged 83 after an extraordinary life.

Dr Aichroy was born in 1937 in a dirt-floored hut in what became Bangladesh after the British Partition of India, which saw him flee with his mother to Burma as part of the largest mass-migration in human history.

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While attending school in modern-day Yangon, from which he graduated dux, he overheard the assassination of the Burmese revolutionary Aung San in a nearby building and would later compare the sound of gunfire to fireworks.

He returned to India to study medicine and made five lifelong friends who were like brothers to him and watched his funeral via video link.

Dr Aichroy moved to England after graduation where he qualified as a surgeon and met his wife Annie.

"One particular night I was in charge of the children's ward and there was a baby missing. I went to the nurse administration and they said Dr Aichroy would have taken it to do a ward round," Mrs Aichroy said.

"Bimal loved children. You wouldn't do it these days but he was happily taking the baby for a walk. And that's how I met him."

They were married in a Catholic English wedding followed by a traditional Indian one.

Their two children, Thomas Kishore and Catherine Konika, were raised to know both of their cultures and now have families of their own.

In 1972 the Aichroys moved to Tumut and the following year came to Wagga, where Dr Aichroy fulfilled his dream of becoming a consultant general surgeon at the Base Hospital.

General surgeon Richard Harrison said Dr Aichroy was known for his skill and his empathy, by his patients and by the doctors and nurses he taught.

"He and Annie were a pretty dynamic duo really. He was very understated. You never would have heard a bad word out of his mouth. There is considerable sadness around when we saw that he passed," Dr Harrison said.

Mrs Aichroy said she would most remember her husband for his humility and his ability to put other people's needs before his own.

"He'd been a refugee. He'd been able to live on very little in life and yet study and work hard. He cared for people," she said.

"And he was a wonderful father and husband. I knew how loved I was."