Deceased September 23, 2013
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50th Reunion Book Entry
Amherst Magazine Parker S. Dorman '44
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Parker Dorman passed away on Sept. 23, 2013, the way all of us would wish to go. He spent the afternoon chatting with his oldest son about his favorite things. He had found his peace: on the way to dinner he sat down and died.
A native of Washington, D.C., Parker was an Eagle Scout who entered Amherst in 1940, following his brother, Wayne ’42. In his sophomore year Parker joined the U.S. Navy. After four months in Williamstown in the V-12 program, he graduated from Amherst in October 1943 with 50 of his classmates in the Octagon. Medical school and an internship followed, before he served for two years during the Korean War. By the mid-1950s he was in Erie, Pa., married to Janet English (Smith ’44), doing his residency and getting a master of medical science degree.
Parker and Janet returned in 1955 to Washington, D.C., where he joined his father and brother in a medical practice specializing in urology. He was on the clinical faculty of Georgetown University and was head of residency training at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Md.
Parker was active in the Osler Society, the Southern Society of Urological Surgeons and the Mid-Atlantic section of the American Urological Association. In Washington, he was a member of the University Club and was involved with the local Amherst Alumni Association.
He was a devoted member of the Bethesda Congregational Church. He was active in the Bethesda Kiwanis and Meals on Wheels and was president of Bethesda Cares.
In retirement, Parker and Janet traveled to Europe, went to Barbados every winter with college friends and spent time at their lakeside cottage in Maine. A loyal Amherst man, he was on the Student Council; president of Chi Psi Fraternity; manager of the football team; and a member of Sphinx, the Junior Class Honor Society and Scarab. He served as class agent and class president.
He is survived by his wife, Janet English (Smith ’44); five surviving children, 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Tom Dorman ’70
Joan Dorman Davis F’73
Janet Parker Bruce ’80
Jim Hund ’44
50th Reunion
I entered Amherst in the fall of 1940, on the heels of my brother Wayne, '42. When the war broke I signed up with the US Navy, and remained an Apprentice Seaman from
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I married Janet English (Smith '44) on New Years Eve, 1944. Four years later we started a family, ending up with six. They are the most creative thing I've been involved with, and their lives and families continually enrich ours. In brief, they are:
TOM - Amherst '70, business, m. Janet B. Knox, DCC minister, two children, Needham MA
BRAD - Hobart '72, contractor, m. Kathleen Waldenfels, historian, two girls, Takoma Park, MD.
JOAN - Smith '73, college counselor, m. David G. Davis, education, one daughter, four step-children, Seattle, WA.
DEBORAH - Brown '77, bell choir director, m. Robert Kirk, education, three children, Woodstock CT.
ANNE - Harcum Jr. College '81, operating room veterinary technician New Bolton center, m. John Hope, business, two children, West Chester, PA.
JANET - Amherst '80 artist, m. David s. Bruce, business, Staunton Hill, Brookneal, VA, and Washington, DC.
I practiced medicine for forty years, specializing in Urology. Clinical medicine interested me a great deal more than administrative medicine, therefore I didn't stay in the Navy. Private practice appealed to me more than a University appointment, although I was on the clinical faculty of Georgetown University and headed their residency training at Suburban Hospital.
Several medical associations afforded us the opportunity to travel, including the Osler Society, the Southern Society of Urological Surgeons, and the Mid-Atlantic Section of the American Urological Association, all of Which I presided over at one time or another. I had to attend their meetings, at the Greenbrier, in Bermuda, Scotland, St. Croix or Puerto Rico.
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