Dr. Rhodes Haverty could have gone into the family furniture business started by his grandfather, but he chose a different path.
A 1953 graduate of the Medical College of Georgia, Haverty was a pediatrician for more than a decade. He worked in private practice until 1968, when he transitioned into the education field as Georgia State’s dean of health sciences. He remained at Georgia State until he retired in 1991. His careers in medicine and education were his way of giving back, said his daughter, Lisa Haverty.
“He was so passionate about issues that affect children, and certainly those concerning education and health,” she said. “He was always ready to do for other people. He was just so generous with his time and his money.”
John Rhodes Haverty of Atlanta died Friday after a period of illness and declining health. He was 87.
Haverty did not want a formal service, so his family is gathering for a meet-and-greet from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. Friday at the Piedmont Driving Club. H.M. Patterson, Spring Hill chapel is in charge of cremation arrangements.
Born in Atlanta, Haverty graduated from high school in Chattanooga, Tenn., and then enrolled in Princeton University in 1943. Midway through his undergraduate studies, Haverty spent two years serving in the Navy, after which he returned to Princeton and graduated in 1948. After medical school Haverty spent three years as a pediatric resident: two years at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia and one year at Grady Memorial Hospital.
“Although Rhodes was best known for his contributions to the healing arts, his compassionate personality made personal friends for him,” said Sam Massell, president of the Buckhead Coalition and a former Atlanta mayor. “Rhodes had a passionate personality everyone would want in a doctor.”
Rhodes Haverty also spent a considerable amount of time serving on various education-related boards across metro Atlanta, his daughter said.
Jarvin Levison, a longtime friend, said Haverty’s body of knowledge extended far beyond medicine.
“He knew quite a lot about other things as well because he was very well-traveled and he read a lot,” Levison said.
Though he chose not to go into the furniture business, the Haverty family name and enterprise was very important to him, said his son, John “Dusty” Rhodes Haverty III.
“He instilled that importance in me as well,” Haverty said of his father. “I’ve been with the company for 35 years and I’ve tried to pass that on to my son, and now my grandson.”
In addition to his children, Haverty is survived by his second wife, Elice Dittler Haverty of Atlanta, a stepson, John Dittler Shlesinger of Atlanta; half-brother, Martin Dodenhoff of Ohio; one grandson; two stepgrandchildren; and one great-grandson.
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