David was my father Stan's older brother but I only got to see him during rare family reunions or when he would visit us in California. His looks and manners reminded me of my father and my grandfather George as did the laugh. As  I worked in the travel industry (hostelling) I knew I wanted to hike with Dave on one of his famous European Alps trips and I was lucky enough to do so in Austria for two weeks. You really could see his gift for leadership but it was his stories and fantastic memory of our family that really fascinated me. There was still much I wanted to know. I credit him for bringing my love of old VW's into our family from his Army days in Germany. He would send me articles about old trains in California too. When I lost my father, he was a great solace to me personally and gave me some sound advice on how to navigate the world on my own. I am forever grateful for his wisdom and love. Here is a photo of his family and ours in the early 70's somewhere near Sacramento, California, probably taken by my Grandfather George Parry. 

I loved it during meetings when David would say: “Now, just among us girls...”  
He believed in retirement contributions and did his best to explain it to us 20-30 year olds...He would make us repeat: COMPOUND INTEREST OVER TIME!!! Thank you for that, David, as I heeded your advice and am a happy retirée!  You were a fun businessman and a “father figure” to many of “us girls”...May you rest in peace.

Dave was much more to me than an esteemed business partner.  He was a mentor who always knew that it made good sense to invest in his clients' education.  Dave introduced me to so many exciting  destinations -- China, Russia, Germany, Switzerland and France among them.  I have indelible memories of all the travel we did together with Susan and his staff, always in search of the best experiences we could weave into our tour offerings.  Each research trip was enriched with his incredible, in-depth knowledge of history and culture. His insights into what made the travel industry tick were often hilarious and always appreciated, as was the example he set in dealing  respectfully with his suppliers abroad.  Dave was also a terrific judge of character.  You need look no further than the leadership of ATA for proof of that!  After I retired from Smithsonian Journeys, I was so pleased to have have another opportunity to work with Dave and company on the Fund for Education Abroad galas.  What a great idea, and what a terrific capstone to his lasting legacy.  He will be greatly missed, but shines as an example of a life lived with gusto and generosity.  - Amy Kotkin

Dave's last illness came on so suddenly and was so short, he really didn't have time to say farewell to family, friends, co-workers, etc. So, here he is in 2012 waving good-bye to everyone before setting off to Switzerland on a hike.  Let this be his good-bye.


Naps were to Dave Parry one of the most essential things. Here’s a pic of him catching a quick nap.

I was really shocked to hear of Dave's death. The last I had heard he was still hiking in Northern Italy. His death has brought back a flood of memories of a group of 20 somethings slogging their way through grad school at AU. Dave was my roommate for a time and earlier a resident with me at the informal AU men's residence  on G St. lovingly call the Pig Pen. I owe Dave a lot. A little older and much wiser, Dave was not only a friend but a wise counselor.  But my greatest debt to him was the fact he introduced me to my future wife. I had just broken up with a girl and as idiots of 24 will do, I had sworn off serious relationships 'forever'. Dave didn't say anything at the time but at the beginning of the Fall Semester he casually mentioned that the full time grad program had admitted two young women. In an equally off handed manner he said they would be looking in at the Pig Pen that noon and would I like to meet them. Not surprisingly, despite my earlier resolution, I said yes.  
Well, Dave introduced me to both women, but from the start I only had eyes for one of them, a lovely brunette from Iowa. Afterward Dave  urged me to ask her out on a date. Sad to say it took a couple of months to screw up the courage to do that but finally I did and 60 years later we are still together.
Dave's was a life well lived.  I shall always remember him as a friend and mentor. Rest in peace old friend.
Budd

Dear Susan and Family,
I was sorry to read about David in the Post.  We have lost touch, but it does not mean that I do not remember the Chevy Chase neighborhood.  I remember David as a cheerful, calm face at our neighborhood gatherings.  I hope that the wonderful memories of your lifelong time together come to dominate this most recent and sad time.  I understand you have moved to a retirement home not far from where I live in Rockville.  Perhaps we can catch up in person.  I am away for the summer on Block Island.  I send you the sunshine and sea breezes from the ocean along with the sympathy of all the DeBrandt family.  
Judy

Dear Susan,
It has been many years since David was first a student, political supporter, and then a valued colleague at the Washington Center where he was invaluable in a difficult period. I was delighted that he found his true calling in the travel industry, which also engaged my late wife, Mary.
I treasured his honesty, intelligence, and good humor as recounted his adventures in congressional offices, and I am sure, with some of our irrasible friends at the center. 
I lost contact as we both moved on, but I have retained a deep appreciation of all he did for me and the community. Please accept my condolences on his loss.
Royce 

"It's as if the Library of Alexandria has just burned down," was my first shocked thought after learning from Susan of David's death. An enormous cache of knowledge had just been lost to the world. 

My affiliation with ATA extended from 1976-99, a significant portion of my working life, and I will never forget my larger-than-life "Boss." I first met David Parry at the 1976 national conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies that I helped run in Atlanta. That turned out to be the first of many years of successful stints for David as an exhibitor introducing his concept of study tours to academics across the U.S. who were involved in Soviet/East European studies. (See photo of ATA's lapel buttons--similar to the "znachki" traded in that part of the world--which we handed out at AAASS conferences.)  For several subsequent decades, Academic Travel Abroad's "Russian Department" was the largest section in the entire company. 

As you read the memories from David's other former employees and friends, notice how frequently "larger than life" appears as a personality trait.  This was a man we will not forget!

I am devastated - he seemed and sounded so healthy recently. 

Just think of the wonderful memories he leaves and the enormous number of lives he touched!  He will always be remembered for his good cheer, his enormous talent, and his special vision to establish and maintain the highest standards of international travel for leaders and participants alike.

My love and special prayers go out to his wonderful wife Susan.  I couldn't be sorrier to get this profoundly sad news.

I am truly sorry to learn of Daves passing.  Dave was in inspiration to me as we organized study tours with a life long learning purpose.  He understood adding special events (unannounced) to each learning adventure cemented the relationship to bringing folks back for future learning and adventures.   His can-do attitude was something I carried forward in my professional life.   When Dave and I first met for lunch to discuss a possible working relationship I immediately liked him and quickly understood his wisdom and depth of experience for sharing the world with others.     His skills touched thousands of people in a positive way through purpose orientated travel.  While life takes us in many different directions over the years special people we were privileged to know and work with often make the deepest impressions.

I'm at a loss and words are hard to come by.  David had a huge, permanent impact on my life and will be sorely missed.  His personality was larger than life, he was so damn smart and some of his expressions subconsciously entered my vocabulary so in that sense he lives on:  Difficult people = "Hard to Diaper" and People Who Keep Changing Their Minds = "Jammies On, Jammies Off."  I'll always remember long walks through and around Moscow and our negotiations with our Soviet counterparts.  I learned so much from the man and will carry that knowledge, along with my fond memories of him, forever.

Wherever in the world we, his neighbors for 18 years, were planning to travel, Dave would recommend some fascinating, little-known, off-the-grid sight. And he was always right. Case in point: the Roman legionary fortress Carnuntum, halfway between Vienna and Bratislava. 

We've missed Dave's travel tips and all-around neighborliness since he and Susan moved three years ago, and we were heartbroken to learn of his passing.

Arik and Susan
Broad Branch Rd, NW

Dave, we missed you, but You will be in our hearts forever! 
It is hard to believe that the last summer visit to You and Susan in Bethesda was the last time we saw You. 

You were my mentor, great friend and colleague. During my term as an American Tourism Society board member under Your Chairmanship, I had a chance and opportunity to learn so much from your knowledge, experience and wisdom. I enjoyed very much our educational and business trips in Europe and Middle East. Your lectures and presentations always impressed travel professionals and college students worldwide. 

Our deepest sympathies to Susan and the Parry Family.

Jan and Bozenna Rudomina


To the Parry family, my deepest condolences.
My eternal gratitude to Dave for introducing me to Alpine hiking, which I have since passed on to family and friends...so many wonderful  memories of trips together since that first Wildstrubel R&D hike in 1988:  Dave's genuine excitement  at reaching a pass, surveying the scenery, and letting out a joyous "Wow!"; riding shotgun, white-knuckled, as Dave navigated to an obscure trailhead over narrow mountain roads, one hand on the wheel and a map spread out on the dashboard; soaking up Dave's stories of growing up in California and of his army years in Germany...summer jobs in logging camps...his adventures driving through Europe while on leave in an old VW...To me, Dave seemed  larger than life.
Dave was an empathetic listener, too; he always asked about my children and celebrated their exploits, while providing a needed ear for my worries during some of the darker teenage years.
So many of our hiking days ended with an after-dinner walk from the hotel through town, with a stop for a gelato or an espresso.  Inevitably, we'd end up at the train station, where Dave would peruse the schedules on the platform.  With any luck, a train pulled in, prompting Dave to relate a history of the rail line, its role in a military campaign, how braking systems changed over the years,  etc.  
I feel now as if I am alone on the platform, watching the train recede down the rails.  Safe travels, Dave, and many thanks.  I will miss you.


Dave meant so much to so many of us who passed through Academic Travel.  He literally changed our lives.  He sent us out to foreign countries to do things we had never done before......and he expected us to succeed!
Dave still pops up in my dreams where he is always starting a new company, hiking in the Alps or researching a new adventure.
He is truly missed! 


Dave Parry has brought learning and joys, a love and appreciation of Nature and History to an untold number of people throughout his professional life, opening the world, and exploring it through his academic travels concept.  Best wishes to his family, especially Susan -- the pillar in his professional life and beyond.  Heartfelt condolences from Ilse with Dick Higgins

My deepest condolences to Susan, the Parry family, and to the ATA family, of which I was so lucky to have been a part, briefly, from 1996 to 2003, as a recent immigrant. I have abiding memories of David striding out, leading his younger colleagues, huffing and puffing behind him, in hikes in the glorious Shenandoah National Park; more sombrely, of his calm leadership as the events of the morning of 9/11/01 unfolded; and of his broad smile as he strode through the office. Fondest best wishes, Sandra Ricks.

I don’t know what I can say about my Pop David Parry in 2000 characters. This modern age’s limit on verbiage cannot convey how unique David Thomas Parry was. He was my North Star on being an ethical man and overall awesome Pop. He was born April 22, 1933, which was the peak year of the Great Depression. Tellingly, his mother Elizabeth Jones Parry was the only mother in the maternity ward.  He was the smartest person in any room. He always had the best one-liners regardless of the circumstances.  He had spent more than 60 years in the DC area, but he always looked west. Particularly to the California of his youth.  I plan to watch the Pixar movie Up when I’m not as maudlin..Up features my Pop’s favorite Oakland Ice cream parlor of his youth Fentons...and Pixar Studios is built on the site of Oaks Park, where the Oakland Oaks captivated Dave and his brother Stan...I want to write about how he felt about alpine hiking, but I have the sword of Damocles over my head with the word count. Pop, they need multi volumes to accurately you. Georgia and Evan are better for having you as Pop Pop. They say the Welsh are good at social distancing, but you took it too far. I kid. I love you 

OBITUARY

David Thomas Parry

April 22, 1933 – July 13, 2020

Joseph Gawler’s Sons, LLC

Show your support

Add a Memory

Share Obituary

Get Reminders

Services