Fellow Duke’s Men and Doox,
It is with heavy hearts, swollen with pride, that we share news of the passing, over Memorial Day weekend, of Parker Towle (’55 SY), who along with Paul Thompson ’55 originated the idea of what would become the Duke’s Men.
For any able to reach Franconia, New Hampshire this weekend, we wanted to share soonest that there will be a memorial service on Saturday, 31 May at 11am, celebrating the life of Parker at the Franconia Community Church of Christ.
We have included Parker’s obituary, shared by Parker’s children, who wanted to play early recordings of the Duke’s Men for Parker in his final hours and embraced the Duke’s Men/Doox as part of Parker’s extended family and legacy.
Parker, among other talents and passions (as you’ll read in his inspiring obituary), was a poet, and we are fortunate that on more than one occasion Parker lent his gifted way with words toward the crucial chronicling of the Duke’s Men of Yale’s early history. As one such example, you read THE ORIGIN AND EARLY YEARS OF THE DUKE’S MEN OF YALE, written by Parker with input/recollections from his fellow Duke’s Men pioneers in 2003, as part of celebrating our 50th anniversary that year.
The original group, pictured in the fall of 1952. Parker is top left with eyes closed.
We will share more about Parker in a forthcoming Istanbulletin, and we would welcome additional anecdotes and recollections of him at dooxalumni@gmail.com, so that we might include some of them in that memoriam. For now, let us unite in remembering and honoring Parker, for his foundational role in forging this wonderful community of singers and humans we’ve all been blessed to inherit. We leave you with more of Parker’s modest and forever resonant words, written in 2008 on the occasion of our beloved group’s 55th anniversary:
“I believe there is more singing at Yale than at any other university on the planet. The rigor of our inquiry and our learning is our head, indeed lofty and admirable; but our singing is our heart, and this is what sets us apart.
I am bursting with pride to have had a small role as a Duke’s Men founder in a tiny piece of this great heart.”
Parker Allen Towle was born the only child of Berton Gifford and Pearl Agnes Towle on December 6, 1933, in Holden, MA, and died peacefully on May 24, 2025, at The Summit by Morrison in Whitefield, NH. Parker was an honored gentleman, devoted husband, loyal friend and energetic father.
As a man of deep heart and faith, Parker was a longtime member of the Franconia Community Church of Christ. Parker and Phyllis conducted medical missions with Honduras Hope. Parker was a passionate physician and always doing something: healing people, splitting wood, writing cookbooks or poems, reading poetry and serving dinner to his beloved.
In his youth, Parker enjoyed riding his bike to play piano at a friend’s house, hiking with his parents, or fishing the forbidden pond. Admired by his peers, he was president of his high school class, baseball player, and football captain. Parker graduated Yale University with a degree in English, where he helped found the still active a cappella singing group, The Duke’s Men. Upon graduating college, Parker married his high school sweetheart, Phyllis Ann Bartlett, whom he adored for their 70 married years together. After attending the University of Vermont Medical School, he did his internship as Navy lieutenant in Bethesda, Md. and Jacksonville, Fla. followed by his residency at Yale.
As a clinical neurological pioneer Parker was the second on Boston’s South Shore, practicing and teaching neurology at 13 different Massachusetts hospitals. He built a private practice in Norwood, Mass., while raising four kids in Westwood, Mass. When his youngest child graduated from high school, Parker fulfilled a life-long dream of living in the mountains around Easton, N.H., which to him was “paradise.” He became the first neurologist in New Hampshire’s North Country, travelling the width from Littleton to Berlin to North Conway. He had a private practice and helped open a free local clinic before joining the staff at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
For recreation, he indulged his passions, including skiing, hiking, and winter camping in the White Mountains of New Hampshires and Green Mountains of Vermont. He cooked delicious meals for loved ones, played competitive racquetball, and walked with family and friends. Engaging in sports with abandon, he also found special joy in watching the New England Patriots play football. He played softball after work, was fiercely competitive at racquetball, organized week-long cycling trips, and co-founded the Frontiersmen at Camp Pinnacle in Lyme, N.H.
The arc of their lives was sprinkled liberally with far off destinations. Their most beloved hikes were coast-to-coast in Northern England, Offa’s Dyke in Wales, the Dordogne Valley of France, Josh Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands (returning nearly every year), Amelia Island, and other Florida beaches.
Intellectual pursuits and teaching motivated Parker as well. While working full-time (finally retiring at age 80), Parker earned a Masters in Fine Arts for poetry at Vermont College. He taught at Harvard Medical School and Dartmouth Medical School while presenting papers as an active member of the Clinical Society of Neurologists. He wrote poetry, completing six self-published books along with many poems published in outdoor magazines. The Writer’s Almanac, with Garrison Keillor, featured his poem, Cases, in January, 2007. On the board of directors of The Frost Place in Franconia, N.H., he managed the poetry signs on the nature walk, hosted poetry readings, and generally took care of things.
Parker was first and foremost a family man. He is survived by his wife; four children: Peter G., Daniel P., David B. and Elizabeth S. Towle; and by his four grandchildren: Matthew, Stewart, Jessica, and Morgan.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, May 31, 2025, at the Franconia Community Church of Christ in Franconia, N.H. at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations will be gratefully accepted by the Franconia Community Church of Christ.
Originally published by the Caledonia-Record, St. Johnsbury VT