Dr. Richard Emerson Felder

News Obituary Article

GAINESVILLE: Richard Felder, doctor wanted to treat mind, body and soul

By HOLLY CRENSHAW

In medical school, Dr. Dick Felder studied every aspect of the human body and sensitized himself to every passing pain or slight suffering of our corporeal selves.

He earned his M.D. degree from Emory University in 1944, served as a U.S. Army doctor in Germany and practiced internal medicine in LaGrange and Atlanta.

When he decided to pursue psychiatry, he found it impossible to separate his clients' mental health from their physical well-being. In linking the two, Dr. Felder advanced a more holistic approach to healing.

"I think psychiatry fascinated him because he wanted to understand how the human mind worked, and how the heart and soul worked in combination with the mind," said Iris Bolton of Roswell, director emeritus of The Link Counseling Center, where Dr. Felder worked for 25 years.

"And he was an unusual psychiatrist in that he didn't really prescribe medication," she said. "Not that he was against it, but he felt that the best therapy for someone was working with their whole person and the overall health of that person."

Dr. Richard Emerson Felder, 89, died of lung cancer May 2 at his Gainesville residence. The body was cremated. The memorial service is 2 p.m. May 31 at The Link Counseling Center. R.T. Patterson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Dr. Felder spent years treating clients in private practice and, in 1993, joined the staff of The Link Counseling Center, where he supervised other staff members.

"He prided himself in bringing out what people have inside them," said his daughter Mimi Tesler of Buford.

"And he was by far the most hard-core, holistically oriented of all the shrinks he practiced with," she said. "He was into vitamins and nutrition and exercise long before it became popular."

That well-rounded outlook shaped his entire approach to life.

After he was attacked by a client, he studied self-defense and, at 50, earned a black belt in martial arts.

He ate fruits and vegetables, soy products and gluten-free foods, then washed down all that healthy fare with a glass of French wine from his wine cellar.

He spoke fluent French and traveled to Europe whenever he could. But he was just as happy to tool around a lake in a houseboat, a holdover from having grown up in West Palm Beach, Fla.

He penned scholarly books and articles and wrote down his dreams in journals for most of his life but expressed himself just as profoundly through music.

Dr. Felder taught himself to play "Rhapsody in Blue" in its entirety on the piano from memory to court his late wife, Blanche McCall Felder, and built his home around the pipe organ that was the centerpiece of his creative life.

"Exercise, nutrition, mental health, good sleep, taking care of every part of your person --- he really believed in looking at the connection between all of those things," Mrs. Bolton said.

She added that in almost every speech she gives, she finds herself quoting Dr. Felder "because of his wisdom."

"If there was some difficult situation you were dealing with, he would listen and listen and then come back with some parable or story, and you just got it --- that this too shall pass, and love is what it's really all about, and don't take yourself too seriously, and give yourself some time to heal," she said.

"He was a healer --- a healer of body, mind and soul."

Survivors include two other daughters, Jenny Felder of Tucker and Sally Tuohy of Buford; his sister, Marjorie Felder of Clarksville; eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

© 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution