Emory Parr

News Obituary Article

DECATUR: Emory Parr, runner had mind for numbers

By HOLLY CRENSHAW

Emory Parr ran 12 marathons, including big-name races in Boston and New York. He even ran an ultra-marathon, a mind-numbing 41-mile event that he swore he would never do again.

But his most memorable race may have been in Huntsville, Ala., in 1982, when he crossed the finish line of the Rocket City Marathon with his future wife as they were first getting to know each other.

"He ran Boston several times, but I think his favorite was the one that he and I ran together because it really was a special marathon," said his wife, Barbara Aleksa-Parr of Decatur. "And because he was so good with numbers, at every mile he could tell me what my pace was and help me keep on target with my time."

Emory Franklin Parr, 60, of Decatur died May 20 of pancreatic cancer at Hospice Atlanta. The body was cremated. The funeral Mass is 3 p.m. today at St. Thomas More Catholic Church. Cremation Society of Georgia is in charge of arrangements.

A high school track star and basketball player, Mr. Parr grew up in rural Taylor County and earned a business degree from the University of Georgia in the early 1960s.

In the late '70s and early '80s, he worked for a few years for the Atlanta Track Club, helping to manage races and writing articles for its publication, the Wingfoot. But he spent most of his career as a business manager for Community Friendship Inc., a home for mentally disabled people, and for Rail Sciences Inc., a railroad safety consulting firm.

"He had an incredible mind for numbers," Mrs. Parr said. It was nothing for him to instantly compute their son Aaron's basketball stats mid-game as he cheered from the stands. "You could just see his brain whirring and then he'd just spit out a number."

His passion for basketball rivaled his devotion to running, she said, and during March Madness, he stayed glued to the games on television.

His taste in music and movies tended toward softer fare. He loved singer-songwriters James Taylor, Don McLean and especially Harry Chapin, and his favorite movies were light romantic comedies with stars like Meg Ryan.

"We were both yellow-dog Democrats, and he loved to talk politics," said his longtime friend, Gary Langley of Atlanta. "Every day he read the paper from the very front page to the end --- he read it all. He had a remarkable memory, like a steel trap, and remembered articles in the paper verbatim, and he used to write letters to the paper on practically a weekly basis."

"Emory was a very calm personality who cared about people and cared about the planet, and he was just so entirely devoted to his family," said his friend Janet Ward of Atlanta, who often sat beside him at his son's basketball games.

"He was so into the game that you'd think he'd be one of those people who are obnoxious to sit next to, but he really wasn't. He wasn't like a stage mom at all. He was just really into pulling for the kids and the team."

Survivors include his son, Aaron Parr of Decatur, and a sister, Margaret Parr-Recard of Washington, D.C.

© 2005 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution