Dr. Joseph B. Parker Jr.

Dr. Joseph B. Parker, Jr., 91 entered into "Larger Life" on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at Hillcrest Convalescent Center in Durham.
Born in Knox County, TN, he was the son of Dr. Joseph B. Parker and Sue York Parker. He and his wife of 60 years, Phyllis Foster Parker were married May 25, 1946 in Klamath Falls, OR. She currently resides in Durham, NC.
Dr. Parker is also survived by his two children, Suzanna Parker Dudley and husband, Dana, of Lunenberg, MA, Joseph B. Parker III and wife, Gae Broadwater, of Frankfort, KY; his niece, Margaret Houston Foppiano and husband, Charles, of Wilmington, NC; their children, Houston and Cristi Foppiano of Cary, NC;and their children, Sophia and Alexandra Foppiano, also of Cary, NC, and Parker and Thomas Kent Fopppiano, both of Knoxville, TN.
Dr. Parker graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1939 with a B.S. degree where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta and the German honorary. He received his medical degree from the University of Tennessee Medical School in Memphis in 1941 and performed his internship at Knoxville General Hospital from 1941-1942.
He served in the U.S. Naval Medical Corp primarily in the South Pacific with the Marines and eventually earned the rank of Lt. Commander. While in the Navy he served his residency at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Washington, DC from 1944-1945. He later moved to Durham and served his residency in psychiatry at Duke University Hospital from 1946-1948, and in 1949 he joined Duke's psychiatric staff.
Dr. Parker became an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Medical School from 1949-1952 where he directed the Child Guidance Clinic. He later became chief of psychiatry at the VA Hospital in Durham and associate professor at Duke. In 1959 he became professor and chairman of the department of Psychiatry at the University of Kentucky's Medical Center.
While in Lexington, KY, Dr. Parker became a member of Rotary, a consultant at the USPHS Hospital, the VA Hospital and the Lexington Edition of Psychotherapeutics, a member of the advisory committee of Cerebral Palsy, advisor of the Junior League Opportunity Workshop, a member of the Kentucky Governor's Council on Mental Health, the Kentucky Governor's Manpower Committee, and a member of the executive committee and trustee of the Central Kentucky Mental Health Board.
From 1970-1984 he was professor at Duke Medical Center in Psychiatry and later became emeritus professor.
During his academic career he had written numerous papers for publication and presentation.
Following his retirement he served for ten years on the North Carolina Medical Retirement Board.
In his younger years his avocation was hybridizing irises. He introduced a yellow iris naming it "Terry's Choice". Dr. Parker was a national judge for several years and frequently attended new potential introductions.
Dr. Parker was recognized as a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, President of the Southern Psychiatric Association, the American Psychopathological Association, Society of Biological Psychiatry, Phi Chi, Delta Phi Alpha, Alpha Omega Alpha, a member of the "Honorable Elders" of Kiwanis, and Who's Who listing since 1964.
A memorial service will be held 10:30 a.m. Thursday, September 6, 2007 in the Memorial Chapel of Duke University Chapel with the Reverend Albert Nelius officiating. Burial will be held in Lynnhurst in Knoxville, TN.
Memorial gifts may be made to Duke Gardens, P.O. Box 90341, Durham, NC 27708.
Hall-Wynne Funeral Service is assisting the Parker family.