- Date Of Birth: November 10, 1924
- Date Of Death: June 16, 2010
- State: Arizona
William B. Parsons Jr., MD, died June 16, 2010 at Brighton Gardens in Scottsdale, Arizona, surrounded by loving family. He had been a Valley resident since 1974, serving as Director of Clinical Research for Armour Pharmaceutical Company (1974-1978) and practicing internal medicine in Scottsdale from 1978 until 1999. Born in Apollo, PA in 1924, to Anna Parsons and William B. Parsons, DDS, he grew up in Pittsburgh, where he had his premedical and medical education (University of Pittsburgh).
Following training in internal medicine at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, he practiced in Madison, WI from 1956 through 1973 at the Jackson Clinic/Methodist Hospital. He served on active duty in the Navy as a corpsman during World War II and as a medical officer in the Korean action.
While at the Mayo Clinic, he became the first person in US to use the first successful cholesterol-control drug (niacin) and was a pioneer researcher in this field for decades. Much of his investigative work was done as Research Director of the Jackson Foundation in Madison. In 1970 he coordinated a county-wide screening program for heart disease risk factors, which screened 12,000 persons in four hours on a single Sunday morning (Heart Sunday). He was a leader in organizing a nationwide 53-center study of drugs and heart disease (Coronary Drug Project, 1966-1974), which showed that, of drugs then available, only niacin reduced heart attacks, strokes, and deaths. In those years, he authored many medical papers and chapters in several books.
He was a founding member of the Council on Arteriosclerosis of the American Heart Association, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and member of county, state, and national (AMA) medical associations. He was an active staff member at Scottsdale Memorial Hospitals (later Scottsdale Healthcare) from 1978 until retiring in 1999.
In 1998 he published his first book, Cholesterol Control Without Diet! The Niacin Solution, now in its third edition, which teaches patients (and their doctors) about niacins advantages. In 2003 he published a second book, Tough Talk About Fat! How to Reach and Maintain Your Ideal Weight, now in its second edition.
He is survived by the love of his life, his wife of 37 years, Lynn, sons Scott (Ruth) (Wenatchee, WA), Robert (Heather) (Maui, HI), and Tyler (Los Angeles), daughters Ellen and Dana (Scottsdale), grandsons Sam, Quillan, and Dante, and granddaughter, Davida. He was predeceased by his only brother, Doctor Richard L. Parsons.
His former patients remember his wonderful kindness and personal concern for each of them. Bill gave up tennis at the end of 2003 but remained busy with his publishing company (Lilac Press), promoting his books, delivering their lifesaving messages by radio, and proposing school weight-control programs to employers and government agencies. As Bill would always say, Stay well and enjoy every day!
Memorials: 100 Club 5033 N 19th Avenue Suite #153 Phoenix, AZ 85015 Arizona Humane Society 1521 W Dobbins Road Phoenix, AZ 85041
