Harold McPheeters

1923 - 2021

MCPHEETERS, Dr. Harold Lawrence

Harold Lawrence McPheeters was born in New York City to Harry Halstead and Ethel Louise (Brush) McPheeters on March 10, 1923. He died Thursday, January 14, 2021 in Snellville, GA.

Harold was married to Phyllis Merrill for 58 years. She died in October 2010.

Harold is survived by his sister Shirley Peckham. He is also survived by his son David McPheeters (Ginger), daughter Doris Guidry (Kevin) and son Tom McPheeters (Cindy). His youngest daughter Amy Allen (David) died in 2011. Grandchildren include Beth Anne McPheeters (Kyle Parrish), Mark McPheeters, Emily Thompson (Chris), David Allen III. and great-grandson Alexander Thompson.

Harold attended Lafayette College, was drafted during World War Two into the Army Specialized Training Program for medicine and in 1948 he received his MD from the University of Louisville Medical School. During the Korean War he served as a psychiatrist at the Naval hospitals in Annapolis and San Diego.

From 1955 until 1964 the family lived in Louisville while Harold was Commissioner of Mental Health for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

In 1965 Harold and Phyllis moved their family to Sandy Springs, GA, where they lived for over fifty years and were members of the St. James Methodist Church in Atlanta. From 1965 until his retirement in 1988 he had a distinguished career as the Head of the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Program at the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), based in Atlanta, GA, developing guidelines and standards for college training for a variety of Human Services workers. 1996 he was honored to be the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association Psychiatrist of the Year.

After they retired, Harold and Phyllis enjoyed researching their family histories. Their research included numerous car trips that took them all over the U.S. and Canada to visit family and friends. Harold published genealogy books on three branches of his family tree.

Harold was an athletic swimmer and talented piano player. He loved walking around his neighborhood and visiting his neighbors. He was a prolific gardener with roses in the front yard and vegetable gardens in the back yard. For several years he also maintained rose gardens at the St. James Methodist Church and the Dorothy Benson Senior Center in Sandy Springs, Georgia.

In 2016, Harold moved to the Sunrise assisted living center in Snellville, GA.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to one of the Parkinson's Disease or Macular Degeneration charities.

A memorial service will be scheduled later this year when family members and friends can safely attend.