William Parsons, retired dean at Mass. College of Pharmacy
Dr. William H. Parsons of East Harwich, retired professor and dean at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, died Monday at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis after a brief illness. He was 81.
''My dad was a real self-made guy. He was a product of a real Great Depression home," said Paul R. Parsons of Dover. ''For a little kid from a coal mining town, his life's path was a remarkable digression from those he grew up with."
Educated in Nanticoke, Pa., Dr. Parsons attended Penn State University for a year before enlisting in the Army's officer training program in 1942. Five months later, he was called to duty and served in the infantry in Europe during World War II.
During the Battle of the Bulge on Dec. 24, 1944, he was hit in the face with a grenade and permanently lost vision in his right eye. After spending nearly seven months in a rehabilitation center, he was awarded a Purple Heart. His unit's activities were later chronicled in the 1985 book, ''The Men of Company K: The Autobiography of a World War II Rifle Company," by Harold P. Leinbaugh and John D. Campbell.
After the war, he married his wife of 55 years, Pauline (Globisch). He went on to earn both his bachelor's and master's degrees in physics from Penn. State. He worked his way through college by entertaining and playing the piano.
From 1948 to 1961, he taught physics at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science. While there, he also earned additional degrees, including a doctorate.
''Outside of earning five degrees, he loved to think," said Paul Parsons. ''He would become a student of whatever he was doing."
In 1961, Dr. Parsons moved to Needham and began working as a professor of physics at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy. In the early 1970s he became academic dean. In 1975 he and his family moved to Dover.
He also was a lecturer at Tufts University School of Medicine. He retired in 1984 and moved with his wife to East Harwich.
For many years, he was a member of the Dedham Choral Society and the Chatham Chorale Chamber Singers. He was actively involved with St. Peter's Lutheran Church in East Harwich. He also enjoyed dogs and traveling.
''I think that in the end, the world was a little better place because of what my father contributed," said Paul. ''He came from a pretty bleak background and ultimately lived a pretty colorful life."
In addition to his wife and son Paul, Mr. Parsons leaves another son, William J. of Raleigh, N.C.; and five grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held today at 10:30 a.m. at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in East Harwich. Burial will follow at Harwich Island Pond Cemetery. 