Julian W. Swann

News Obituary Article

ATLANTA: Julian W. Swann, 72, dermatologist

By J.E. GESHWILER

Julian Wilson Swann had a double identity.

Many friends and medical colleagues knew him as Bob Swann, respected dermatologist and crack tennis player. Partners and opponents who encountered him across a lifetime at the bridge table recognized him by his given name, Julian.

How had he come by the nickname Bob? "When he was quite young, he had an older brother who couldn't pronounce 'Julian,' so he called him 'Bob,' their grandfather's name, and others in the family followed suit," said the doctor's wife, Sally Swann.

The memorial service for Dr. Swann, 72, of Atlanta is 11 a.m. today at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church. He died of complications from Parkinson's disease Saturday at Budd Terrace. A.S. Turner & Sons is in charge of arrangements.

Dr. Swann practiced dermatology for 37 years, mostly in downtown Atlanta.

"I'm grateful to have had him as a fellow practitioner," said Dr. Chennault Hailey of Atlanta. "We weren't partners, but we often conferred. He was not a cosmetic dermatologist; his forte was treating skin cancer and precancerous conditions. His fellow doctors respected him, and his patients loved him."

"Bob was an exceptional dermatologist who went out of his way to treat patients with difficult skin problems, even to the extent of checking on them at their homes --- something very few doctors do these days," said Dr. William Dobes of Atlanta.

"He was a mainstay of the Atlanta dermatology community, conscientious about attending our local, state and national meetings and a frequent contributor to our professional discussions,' Dr. Dobes added. 'And if anybody challenged him on a point, he'd challenge them to settle the matter on the tennis court, where he usually had his way."

Dr. Swann was good enough at tennis to have won a Georgia seniors title during the 1980s. But bridge was a year-round passion.

"We nearly majored in bridge at Emory University, playing at our fraternity house," said George Brown of Atlanta. "Julian would have been a life master if he had kept track of points he acquired when he was younger."

A regular at the Atlanta Duplicate Bridge Club, Dr. Swann "had a knack of knowing when to deviate from bridge protocol, which had the effect of throwing his opponents into confusion," Mr. Brown said.

"Beside his place in Buckhead, Bob had a home on St. Simons," said Marie Dodd of St. Simons Island. "There he did pretty much what he did in Atlanta. He gardened, and he played tennis and bridge.

"One of his special gardening projects was an angel trumpet plant, which he babied like mad. He'd work on nice arrangements of annuals and perennials, then worry over brown spots on his lawn," she said.

In 2001, Dr. Swann sold to Gwinnett County a 19th-century mill and 12 acres of surrounding property that had been in his family for years. "It was important to him that the land remain as green space and the mill be kept up for its historical value," Mrs. Swann said.

Survivors include a son, Julian Swann of Atlanta; and two grandchildren.

© 2004 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution