Arvel Dwayne Tharp

Arvel Dwayne Tharp, 82, was born February 2, 1935 in Estill County, KY to the late Lucy (Henderson) Tharp, also of Estill County, and Chester Tharp. They moved to Evansville, IN in 1937. Arvel was a 1952 graduate of Central High School in Evansville and 1956 graduate of the University of Louisville, where he was a Member of the Navy ROTC.

While in Louisville he met Mildred Louise Hart at the Carlisle Avenue Baptist Church, where they were married in 1956.

In 1956 Arvel was commissioned in the US Navy and served from 1956 to 1959 on the Battleship USS Iowa, (now a museum in Los Angeles) as the Gunnery Control Officer, and on the Heavy Cruiser USS Newport News. After leaving the Navy he immediately attended the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, IN, where he graduated in 1963. He did post graduate training at Los Angeles County General Hospital and Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, CA. Arvel and Millie also served three months in a mission hospital in Miraj, India.

Arvel and Millie had two children, Kevin, born in 1961 in Indianapolis, IN, and Gregory, born in 1964 in Washington D.C.
Arvel joined the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, VA in 1964 as a doctor, where he eventually served as the Director of the Medical Services Office. During his US government career, he lived in Fairfax, VA, as well as overseas assignments in Germany and Greece. In 1990 Arvel retired from the US government and moved to Cerritos, CA to work as a Medical Director for FHP. After FHP, Arvel worked in various clinics, finally serving 15 years at Kaiser Medical Offices Urgent Care in Downey, CA. After a serious illness he retired in 2009.

Arvel is survived by two sons, Kevin, of Cerritos, and Gregory (Mary) of Atlanta; two granddaughters, Emma and Claire of Atlanta; three sisters-in-law, Geraldine Tharp of Dallas, TX, Juanita Pfaff of Camp Springs, MD and Dorothy Hart of Alexandria, VA; a brother-in-law, James Hart of Louisville, KY; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives.

Arrangements are under the direction of Forest Lawn, Cypress, California.