Richard P. Layman

Richard Paul Layman, age 98, of Roswell, Georgia, went home to be with the Lord on August 29, 2026. He was born in 1928 to Harry Calvin and Martha Virginia (Zeigler) Layman and grew up in Somerset, Pennsylvania. Richard was the second of seven children and the first in his family to attend college. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Pennsylvania State University. Richard proudly served in the U.S. Army, achieving the rank of Corporal during the Korean War era. While serving stateside, he worked in the laboratory at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he met his future wife, Margaret Evelyn St. John. They were married in Walter Reed Chapel on August 22, 1953, and shared nearly 70 years of marriage.

Through the GI Bill, Richard earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and went on to a distinguished career in pediatrics, practicing in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, from 1960 to 1990. Richard and Margie raised their three sons in Chambersburg. As one of only two pediatricians in Franklin County, Richard maintained a demanding practice. Although his time off was limited, he made time to coach his sons’ baseball teams and serve as an active member of Central Presbyterian Church and later Grace Brethren Church. Richard was industrious, energetic, and always busy, yet especially attentive to and gentle with children. He enjoyed fishing, woodworking, building model airplanes, and rooting for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Penn State football, but his greatest hobby was vegetable and rose gardening. His garden grew a little larger each year, and Margie canned and froze the harvest, keeping the freezer stocked with vegetables and soups.

After “retiring” from medicine, Richard and Margie moved to Dallas, Texas, where he pursued his passion for Christian counseling and earned a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. They settled in Knoxville, Tennessee for the next 24 years, where Richard was a member of West Park Baptist Church and volunteered as a counselor. He lived a life of service not only as a pediatrician, but also as a longtime Sunday school teacher, elder, and deacon in the churches he attended. He also continued gardening, traveling the world with Margie, and greatly enjoyed regular fishing trips with Margie and brother Herb. While living in Knoxville, he volunteered as a biblical counselor for men with drug addiction at Miracle Lake in Etowah, Tennessee and Genesis Recovery in Lake City, Tennessee. He also volunteered at Brushy Mountain Correctional Center. Richard self-published a book entitled “Wonderful Counselor: The Holy Spirit in Christian Counseling.”

Richard was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Margaret Evelyn (St. John) Layman. He was also preceded in death by his sisters, Dorothy Jeffreys and Lois Zarefoss, and by his brother, Frank Layman. He is survived by his children, Lawrence Layman of Martinez, Georgia; Thomas (Rose) Layman of West Lake Hills, Texas; and Steven (Mary) Layman of Marietta, Georgia; seven grandchildren, Kyle (Pamela) Layman, Louise Layman, Claire Layman (Eric Kridle), Bruce Layman, Thomas Layman, Calvin (Amanda) Layman, and John Layman; six great-grandchildren, Christopher, Andrew, Allison, Lydia, Nora, and Leon; and his brothers Herbert Layman and Don (Ann) Layman, and his sister Donna (Ronald) Egolf.

Richard was a devoted husband, loving father, and playful grandfather whose kind spirit, gentle soul, and life of service will be dearly missed.