E. Harvey Estes, Jr.

Edward Harvey Estes, Jr. died peacefully at Croasdaile Village in Durham on Thursday, October 16, 2025.

He was born on May 1, 1925, in Gay, Georgia to the late Edward Harvey Estes and Viola Jarrell Estes. Harvey attended public high school in the quiet farm town and graduated at the age of 16, in a class of only 10 other students. Harvey received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Emory University and began his medical internship at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. It was there he met Marjorie Jean Anderson and married her on October 15, 1948. Harvey interrupted his residency for active duty with the U. S. Navy from 1950 until 1952, where he served as a cardiologist at Bethesda Naval Hospital. He completed his residency in 1953 at Duke Hospital in Durham and joined the Duke medical faculty later that year.

For the next ten years Harvey served as a faculty member and later as a full professor with the Department of Medicine at Duke. In 1966, Duke University named him the first chair of the newly created Department of Community and Family Medicine. In 1967, he assumed responsibility for the Physician Assistant (PA) program, which was started by his mentor and colleague, Dr. Eugene Stead, and was the first program of its kind in this country.

Harvey continued his career as a leader of the North Carolina Medical Society and the North Carolina Institute of Medicine, and was instrumental in placing family physicians, PAs, and nurse practitioners into medically underserved communities. Harvey authored or co-authored over one hundred scientific articles as well as co-authoring a book. In 1990, Harvey retired from Duke and became the founding director of the North Carolina Medical Society Foundation's Community Practitioner Program until 2000.

As impressive as Harvey's professional accomplishments are, they do not begin to reflect the full measure of the man. He was gifted with perfect musical pitch and was a talented violinist as a boy. He was a skilled woodworker who built everything from decorative boxes and fine furniture to his own lake house while assembling an enviable collection of antique tools in the process. Harvey was an avid photographer who enjoyed developing and printing his photos as much as taking them. He was an expert gardener who could propagate and grow all types of plants, with a concentration on figs and ferns. In conversation Harvey listened more than he spoke and when he did respond it was obvious that he had given his complete attention to everything that had been said. He was moderate in all things and embodied the concept of quiet competence. He firmly believed that learning was a lifelong process, and he never stopped pursuing new ideas.

When asked, Harvey would always say his greatest accomplishment was his family. He is survived by his wife of 77 years, Jean, daughters Sally Estes Malone (Van), Susan Estes Jones (Doug), Becky Estes Dunn (Phil), Beth Estes Smith (Jeff), son John Harvey Estes (Kris) and sister Anne Estes Lybrand. Known affectionately as "Doc", he is also survived by grandchildren Scott Brown (Mary), Laurie Brown Tindell (Robbie), Allison Jones Hubbard (Ryan), Mallory Jones Harman (Goodloe), Brian Dunn, Emily Dunn Bye (Andrew), Lianne Estes, Adam Smith (Whitney), Taylor Smith Self (Tyler) and Collin Smith and by 9 great grandchildren.

The family would like to thank Harvey's caregivers at The Pavillion at Croasdaile, who treated him with grace and kindness during his time there.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Harvey's memory to Duke University in honor of the PA Program.