On May 15th, 2020, Robert Clifton Parker, 86, passed quietly at his home in Indiana, Pennsylvania.
Some of the details of Robert’s life are straightforward. He was born and raised in Vermont, the son of Florence and Clifton Parker and brother to Dee, Arlyn, Bill, Charlotte, and Carolyn. He graduated from Peoples Academy in Morrisville, attended the University of Vermont and then the University of Vermont College of Medicine. He served as a captain in the Army Reserve. He married his hometown sweetheart, Mary Amanda Davison, in 1958 and helped raise four children. He was a practicing pediatrician in upstate New York and then Morrisville. Robert earned his Masters in Public Health from the University of Minnesota in 1981 and transitioned to hospital administration, first at Copley Hospital in Morrisville and then the Rutland Regional Medical Center in Rutland, Vermont. He and Amanda moved to Indiana, Pennsylvania in 1994 where Robert assumed the position of Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs at the Indiana Regional Medical Center. He also acted as interim President and CEO for a period before retiring in 2000.
Some of the details of his life are more nuanced. Although his life was largely defined by his rural Vermont upbringing, he maintained an inclusive worldview. He spent three years stationed in Tehran, Iran after medical school as a pediatrician and general medical officer with the United States Army Reserve, ARMISH-MAAG, from 1963-1965. As the only pediatrician in Morrisville, he focused on providing care to the community, sometimes accepting cords of wood as payment. At home, he and Amanda raised chickens, turkeys, and pigs and maintained a large and bountiful garden. He converted their house to a woodburning furnace and solar water heater – ensuring long weekends of logging and splitting wood. He made sure his children took part in all aspects of maintaining the homestead, passing along both his work ethic and his love of rural Vermont. And an understanding of how much work goes into making maple syrup. As a hospital administrator, Robert focused on access to quality healthcare. He was proudest of his work with the Indiana Regional Medical Center establishing facilities in rural areas that lacked care options. Later in life, Robert shifted his energies at home to the trout streams and his home woodshop. Although he had left his Vermont homestead, he held tight to the fact that the best beans and blueberries were homegrown – he was never without a garden and a few berry bushes. Once he retired, the woodshop became the center of his world, and his neighbors and children benefitted as he handcrafted tables and desks and many, many lamps. He cherished long road trips across the country with Amanda, visiting his children, and eventually his grandchildren, who had settled far and wide. He loved his growing family and did everything he could to bring them together. He continued to serve in the community and volunteered with the Red Cross – as a member of the Board of Directors of the Red Cross of Indiana County and deploying to assist during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Near the end of his life, he was most happy going for walks and sharing stories. And he had many, many stories to choose from.
Robert Clifton Parker is survived by his wife, Mary Amanda Davison Parker, and four children, Lynn, Frank, Seth, and Gwen. He is also remembered by his sisters Dee, Charlotte, Arlyn, and Carolyn. His brother, William, and an infant son preceded him in death. Robert has nine grandchildren who miss him dearly.
At Robert’s request, there will be no funeral services. Donations to the Indiana Regional Medical Center Foundation to help support healthcare initiatives can be made in his memory https://www.indianarmc.org/ways-to-give/indiana-healthcare-foundation/
Cremation at the Rairigh-Bence Crematory under the direction of Rairigh-Bence Funeral Home of Indiana.
Online condolences may be offered by visiting: rbfh.net.
