Dr. Joan K. Parry

Dr. Joan K. Parry Dies at 79 in her La Jolla Home. Joan K. Parry, DSW, ACSW, LCSW, passed away the morning of January 9th in her own La Jolla home where she had expressly wished to die. She died of lung and liver cancer. A Native New Yorker, she had been a resident of the San Diego area for the past twenty-five years. She received her bachelors from Columbia University, her MSW from Adelphi and her DSW from Yeshiva University, all in New York. Dr. Parry had over thirty-five years of experience as a social work practitioner and teacher. Her areas of expertise were in death and dying, group and psychiatric social work. She was Professor Emeritus from the San Jose State University School of Social Work, and served on the five-member National Task Force of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) to write continuing education standards for 100,000 professional social workers. She was active for over two decades in AASWG (Association for the Advancement of Social Work in Groups) and was the co-founder of the San Diego Chapter in 1993. She held numerous other positions with AASWG and NASW (National Association of Social Work) in both the New York and California state chapters, including being on the Executive Board of NASW from 1998-2002, and President of the AASWG San Diego Chapter from 1993-1997. She was also a member of the Council on Social Work Education. She received many awards and honors over the years, including most recently Social Worker of the Year in 2005 and a Lifetime achievement Award by AASWG in August of 2007. Dr. Parry was the author of numerous articles, chapters, and books, including the first edition of Social Work Practice with the Terminally Ill (1989) and A Cross-Cultural Look at Death, Dying, and Religion (1995). Dr. Parry worked as a psychiatric social worker at a mental health clinic, as a Family Service Supervisor in Freeport, New York, and as Director of Social Work at the Community Hospital in Glen Cove, New York. She taught at the Hunter College School of Social Work from 1980 to 1984, and the San Jose State University College of Social Work from 1985 to 1993. She then retired from teaching and remained in the San Diego area as an LCSW Consultant and volunteer until her passing. She also recently published a novel A Hand to Hold. Joan was married to John Parry for nearly fifty years until his passing in 2000, and is survived by her three children, Linda Paricio of Walnut Creek, CA, Glenn Aparicio Parry of Albuquerque, NM and Neil Parry of Rochester, NY, her brother Pete Kaufman, and grandchildren Jody Goldman, Dana Goldman, Bryan, Matt and Evan Parry. Funeral services will be held at Dor Hadash synagogue at 4858 Ronson Ct in San Diego on Sunday, January 13, 2008 at 3pm and the family will welcome friends and relatives to sit shivah at 8850 Villa La Jolla Dr #215 on Sunday evening following the funeral and Monday from 10am-4pm. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to AASWG Inc. (2303 Winfield St, Rahway, NJ 07065).