30 Jun Professor and Mrs. Peatman Embrace the Park Springs Lifestyle
Two years ago, in May 2014, Dr. and Mrs. John and Marilyn Peatman moved to Park Springs after 48 years in their home in Brookhaven. The lively couple, who will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in June, met at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where Dr. Peatman completed his BSEE degree.
He worked with Honeywell in inertial guidance and returned to academia at Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western Reserve University) where he completed his MSEE program. After teaching for two years as an Assistant Professor at the Missouri School of Mines (now Missouri University of Science and Technology), he completed his Ph.D. at Case.
Dr. and Mrs. Peatman moved their family including two daughters and one son to Atlanta, where Dr. Peatman joined the Georgia Tech faculty and Mrs. Peatman graduated from Georgia State University with a degree in Early Childhood Education. She parlayed her expertise into a 28-year career at the Atlanta Speech School.
During many summers, Dr. Peatman augmented his teaching with design activities with Hewlett-Packard Company, including a year on leave with HP in Scotland. The couple explained how they’ve always approached packing up and moving with a positive outlook.
Traveling light
“When we left for Scotland with our whole family, we traveled from New York to France with just five trunks and one suitcase per person on board the SS France. We marveled how traveling light gave us a sense of tranquility that was quite liberating,” says Mrs. Peatman. “We experienced that same sense of freedom when we downsized to move to Park Springs.” It took a lot of donations to deserving charities, including more than 13 boxes of books for The Friends of the Dunwoody Library, before they were ready to move into their spacious villa in Park Springs’ 6000 Building with a glorious view over the Park Springs green campus.
When Dr. Peatman retired from teaching, his children were somewhat concerned. “What’s Dad going to do with his time and energy?” they wondered. They need not have worried about their parents, who have embraced the Park Springs lifestyle with gusto. Their calendar is filled with a great variety of activities and meetings, and lots of social events with the many new friends they have made at Park Springs.
Dr. Peatman is a member of Park Springs Good Neighbor program, on the Board of the Park Springs Foundation and active on the senior community’s Marketing Committee, while Mrs. Peatman has performed in Marvin Himmel’s play for the past two years, enjoys exercising, and attends many of the lectures offered through the Women’s Forum. One of her favorite times of the week is her centering prayer group on Monday afternoons. In addition, she is the Secretary of the Park Springs Residents Council, which involves quite a bit of administrative duties behind the scenes.
They keep their dinner agenda filled. “Dinner is the social center of Park Springs,” says Dr. Peatman. “We have met so many interesting and fun people here, just by getting together for dinner in one of the four different dining venues. The company is great, and Chef Henry and his staff are so accommodating – they can handle my request to prepare the chicken pizza without the chicken, and to serve the fruit salad with nothing but berries.”
“We are busier than ever,” notes Mrs. Peatman. If you don’t reach out, you might get bored, so don’t wait to be called!”
They mention Park Springs’ atmosphere of friendliness, and how the employees greet Members by name when walking down the hall. “We are so glad that we moved here,” the Peatmans agree. “Now we say to each other: We could have done this five years ago.”
To learn more about living at Park Springs by Isakson Living, or to schedule a personal tour of Park Springs, please contact one of Park Springs’ Residency Counselors at 678-684-3300 or visit www.parksprings.com.