By: E&P Staff Charles Parvin, a former editor of the Chicago Tribune, died July 29 at the age of 78, the paper reported today. Parvin succumbed to the effects of esophageal cancer.
According to the Tribune, Parvin?s involvement in journalism began when he was editor of his high school yearbook in Bradenton, Fla. He attended Maryville College in Tenn., where he met his future wife, Debbie. Though Parvin had originally planned to transfer from Maryville to the University of Missouri to study journalism, he instead stayed at Maryville and graduated in 1950 with a degree in sociology. Parvin stayed from devotion to his wife, knowin that if he transferred he was more eligible to be drafted into the army. He married Debbie one month after his Maryville graduation.
After spending six years at the Maryville Daily Times, the local newspaper where he had worked during college, Parvin was hired as an editor at the Chicago Tribune in 1956. He would remain there for twenty-nine years, serving as night news editor and night national/foreign editor, among other positions.
The Tribune noted that Parvin?s dedication to his work was steadfast, and included his enthusiastic adaptation towards computers in the newsroom. His talents in copyediting were also profound. But it was his actions during a personal tragedy that belied his love both for his family and his paper.
In 1961, his wife Debbie was diagnosed with dermatomyositis, an inflammatory muscle disease. The treatment was mainly bed rest, which went on for the following 11 years. Parvin adjusted by working nights at the Tribune, spending the rest of the time taking care of his wife and children and tending to several part-time jobs in order to pay off the medical bills.
Parvin is survived by his wife; their two sons, Rex and Scott; their daughter, Jan Martinez; and six grandchildren.
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