David B. Parsell Ph.D.

David B. Parsell, Ph.D

Greenville

David Beatty Parsell, 71, Professor of Modern Languages and Literature Emeritus, died March 30, 2013, in his home.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, to the late Sidney Irving and Jean Wesley Beatty Parsell, David was reared in Merrick, New York (Long Island) and San Francisco, California. He graduated from Lowell High School in San Francisco and Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. Pursuing the study of foreign languages at Vanderbilt University, David received the Ph.D. degree in French in 1970. David married Sharon Youngblood in 1967 and they lived in Grinnell, Iowa, before relocating to Greenville in 1969.

David's teaching career at Furman University lasted from 1969 - 2008. During his nearly forty years at Furman, David taught (and published upon) twentieth-century French literature. He was a pioneer of the university's foreign study program and took Furman's first student group to France in 1971.

David is survived by his daughter, Margaret Dodson (Benjamin), of Denton, Texas; and his son, John (Kayla Gleason), of Greenville. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Sharon in 2002.

Memorial services will be held Sunday, April 7, 2013, at 2:00pm at Christ Church, Episcopal in Greenville. The family will receive friends following the service in the Arrington Room at the church.

No flowers please. Donations may be made to Greenville Humane Society, 305 Airport Road, Greenville, SC 29607, or a charity of your choice.

The Mackey Mortuary, 311 Century Drive.