Deceased January 18, 2010
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In Memory
Parry Warner died on Jan. 18, 2010, after a two-year battle with ALS. Parry is survived by his wife, Cynthia. His other family was his law firm, where he and I were partners.
Parry grew up near Philadelphia and attended Abington High School. He was a member of Delta Upsilon at Amherst, and we were roommates senior year. Other than his sharp intellect, quiet reserve and dry sense of humor, Parry was best known at Amherst for his golf prowess, though he had one quirk: At the top of his back swing, he would look back rather than forward. Still, he consistently hit the ball long and straight.
Parry and I attended law school at the University of Pennsylvania. After law school, Parry worked at a well-known Philadelphia law firm, Pepper Hamilton & Sheetz. I worked at Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP. In our fifth year of employment, Parry called me, said he wanted to leave Pepper and asked whether there was a job at Obermayer. I provided his name to our recruiting committee, and he was hired shortly thereafter. Parry always thought I had something to do with his hiring. He had excellent credentials, was a hard worker, earnest and personable, and he obtained the job all on his own. Still, he never stopped thanking me.
For the next 35 years, we were partners and friends, his office two or three doors away from mine. I said hello to Parry every morning and good night to him every evening. Like clockwork, he was in between 8 and 9 a.m. and left between 6 and 6:15 at night. Except for weekends, holidays and vacations, I have basically seen Parry every day since senior year. I feel absolutely lost without him.
Parry was private, almost shy, quiet, dependable, loyal, rock solid. A brilliant lawyer, he had a hysterical, dry sense of humor, but he was usually my straight man. Most of all, Parry was a devoted husband. He loved Cynthia and talked about her all the time. If he wanted to be remembered, and it was not like Parry to want to be remembered, he would have wanted to be remembered as a good, loving husband. That he was, and he had no peers.
Robert W. Whitelaw ’67