Floyd R. Parks Jr. ’51

Floyd R. Parks Jr. ’51, M.D., a great-great-great-grandson of Eleazar Wheelock, died on July 16. He resided in Laguna Niguel, California, at the time of his death. “Bud” was a history major and premedical student at Dartmouth, where he was a member of the track and cross-country teams, photography editor of The Dartmouth, and active in the Camera Club and the Film Society. He attended the Dartmouth Medical School for two years and earned his M.D. from Johns Hopkins University. He undertook his residency in surgery at Cornell University and UCLA and served in the U.S. Public Health Service. His medical specialty was in cardio-thoracic surgery. Bud learned to fly in the 1960s and was known as “the flying surgeon,” as he provided medical services to rural areas of eastern California and western Nevada. He continued to fly for more than 20 years, logging 4,000 hours and surviving five dead-stick landings. He retired from his medical practice in 1991, and then enjoyed seeing the world as a cruise doctor. Bud loved the outdoors, especially the Sierra Mountains, where he built a home at Mammoth Lakes. He was a lifelong skier, hunter, and backpacker, as well as a student of military history. He is survived by his wife, Maureen, two children, two grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. He was predeceased by his brother, John ’48.