Thomas D.R. Parr ’55

Tom, son of Henry A. Parr III, was born June 1, 1933, in Baltimore and died March 11, 2019. With wife Jenepher, they had four children, Amanda, Sophie (died in 1989 from childhood leukemia), Dudley, and Crawford.

His exciting Air Force life, too crowded to be more than outlined here, his Cold War service focusing on his work in the second-highest radar site in the world with all its ramifications and the concomitant oblivion in which the U.S. population lived, culminated in his final year in which he had a 100% mission-accomplished ratio.

Betrayal by a business associate left Tom angry. He turned to Christ and after 30 days was able to shed his hatred and forgive the individual, in the process learning that forgiveness is not an act of altruism, but a selfish necessity.

His storied engagement in the insurance business culminated in the agency of Maury, Donnelly & Parr in Baltimore.

Tom lost his fascination for duck hunting when his dog Windy died. It was replaced by a catch-and-release program for Atlantic salmon. Our late classmate Bob Russell introduced Tom to the Hospital for Consumptives, originally the oldest resource in the country for tubercular patients, where Tom served on the board.

Tom filled various roles in several Episcopal churches. The class sends condolences on the death of a man of many facets who will be sorely missed.