Robert Parham

Family-Placed Death Notice

PARHAM, Robert DR. ROBERT FLEMING PARHAM His patients hailed Dr. Robert Parham as a skilled and caring physician. A scrapbook assembled by many of them after he retired movingly attests to those qualities. Dr. Robert Fleming Parham died June 1st, 2008 after a brief bout with bone cancer at 52. These same qualities prevailed in his personal life as well. Whether it was his relationship with his wife, Karen, of 24 years, his family or with his scores of devoted friends, his love, tenderness and generosity were paramount. The third of three boys born to L. Glen and Frances Parham in Atlanta, he was brought up in Atlanta's Garden Hills neighborhood. He was raised in an atmosphere that promoted the love of sports and the outdoors. This served him well as an Eagle Scout and as an athlete during his formative years and continued to serve him in his adult years as a traveler/camper/hiker/skier and as a rabid Georgia Bulldogs fan-a trait he inherited from his father. Robert attended grammar schools in Buckhead and graduated from North Fulton High School in 1974. He went to college at Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College) graduating in 1978 and finished his medical education at the Medical College of Georgia in 1982. After completing his medical training he set up a family practice in Greer, S.C. Around this time he met and married his beloved Karen. During his tenure as a family practitioner he was struck with Wilson's disease, a rare hereditary condition. Forced to give up his practice, he moved back to Atlanta and began the slow process of rehabilitation. By dent of hard work, an unwavering will (he was misdiagnosed initially) and proper medication he made huge leaps toward his eventual recovery. He began work again in the early nineties and has been the medical director at the CCI clinic for the past ten years. Robert traveled the world extensively with Karen and went on countless ski trips with her and with friends. Camping and hiking were second nature to him and the sight of his vehicle filled with gear, firewood and friends (canine and human alike) was common. His lean 6'4" frame and competitive spirit combined to make a formidable and always entertaining figure in many sports, organized or improvised. Pictures of Robert seemingly flying through the air as he jumped from various perches into the Chattahoochee River are scattered throughout his home. He loved the Christmas holidays and spent hours decorating his home and dispensing gifts to family and friends. His warm humor and sagacity, acute analytical skills (especially regarding Dawg's football) and generosity will be missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him. He is survived by his wife, Karen, brother Lee and sister-in-law Buff Parham of Highlands, N.C., brother Bruce Parham of Atlanta as well as niece and nephew Allison Pace and Glen Parham. Graveside services will be held and his ashes interred at the Haygood Family Cemetery in Pickens, S.C. on June 22nd. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be given to a favorite charity in Dr. Parham's name.