Dr. Byron F. Harper Jr.

News Obituary Article

FAYETTEVILLE: Byron F. Harper, 85, created a 'city'

By HOLLY CRENSHAW

In 1961, Dr. Byron F. Harper Jr. donated 50 acres of land to be used as a sanctuary for children whose parents couldn't care for them.

He didn't want a building named for him. He didn't want any fancy accolades. He merely wanted to do something lasting and good.

At first, his property sheltered eight scared boys in one small cottage.

Now, Christian City has grown into a sprawling, 500-acre complex on more land he donated through the years.

And it lives up to the "city" part of its name, with 96 buildings and an array of residential, health and social services for 1,100 people --- from Alzheimer's patients to neglected children.

His wife, Rose Marie Harper, of Fayetteville, said that when Dr. Harper handed over the original tract of land, "it was on a dirt road, just some scrubby pine and an open field.

"Now I go down there and see hundreds of cars and I can't believe it," she said. "It just blossomed, and he loved it."

Dr. Harper, 85, of Fayetteville died of complications from pneumonia Saturday at Southwest Christian Care Hospice. The funeral is 1 p.m. today at Southwest Christian Church. Parrott Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

The Union City native had purchased from his father the farmland he later donated. It had been in the family for generations, his wife said.

"Dr. Harper and his wife were the driving force behind Christian City over 40 years ago," said its president and CEO, Robert Crutchfield of Stone Mountain. "It was around their kitchen table that it was birthed and nurtured, and it was on his land that it became a reality."

As Christian City grew, Dr. Harper was there every week treating geriatric patients and checking on its children.

"He cared for hundreds of residents in our medical facility, going floor to floor and working tirelessly in our clinic," Mr. Crutchfield said. "And most of what he did was at no cost, just a free donation of his time."

Dr. Harper graduated from Emory University School of Medicine and ran a private practice in West End and then East Point for 40 years.

At the same time, he served as medical director of Southwest Christian Care, a hospice founded on land he also donated.

At his private practice, Dr. Harper liked to pull out his prescription pad, write down instructions and hand it to patients as they walked out the door. His prescription: "Relax, pray and play."

"When I first came into practice with him, I was this hot-shot little doctor and I thought, 'That's not real doctoring. That's not scientific,' " said his son Dr. Byron Harper III of Fayetteville. "But all the patients would rather have him than me, and I finally realized that was the essence of doctoring. He loved people as much as he treated them."

Every morning the light-hearted physician could be heard singing off-key to himself, often the same few lines of "Sweet Caroline" over and over.

He golfed even when it snowed, picked up litter everywhere he went and skipped dinner when he ate out so he could order three desserts instead.

"He proved to me that if you dream big, and if you can base your faith in God and think the best of people," his son said, "then you really can accomplish humongous things that you never even thought were possible."

Survivors other than his wife and son include three daughters, Holly Adams and Lindy Hale, both of Fayetteville, and Debby Sorrow of Peachtree City; another son, Rick Harper of Fayetteville; a sister, Ruby Fordham of Norcross; 20 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

© 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution