Bob Parish
Nov. 16, 1960 Aug. 14, 2017
Bob Parish, 56, of Noel, Mo., departed this life on Monday, Aug. 14, 2017, at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Mo., after a brief illness. He was born on Nov. 16, 1960, in Pineville, Mo., to the union of
John and
Mary Jean (Potarf) Parish.
He was a lifelong resident of Noel and a 1979 graduate of McDonald County High School. On May 24, 1980, he
was united in marriage to Alesia Sherman and to this union a son and daughter were born. Besides being a hardworking cattle farmer, he also drove a school bus for the McDonald County School District for 35 years. In 1980, he accepted Christ as his personal Lord and Savior and followed the Baptist faith throughout his life. He enjoyed farming, especially baling hay, fishing and spending time with his family, especially his three grandchildren of whom he was very proud. During the school year you could usually find him running the clock and scoreboard for all the Noel 5th- and 6th-grade home basketball games and if it wasn’t a home game he was driving the bus taking the team to their game. When speaking of bus driving he often said “maybe some day he would haul someone that would become famous or even President.”
He was preceded in death by his father, John Parish; paternal grandparents, Everett and Winnie (Pritchard) Parish; maternal grandparents, Marvin and Tina Potarf; and two cousins, Bill Emanuel and Diane (Emanuel) Jordan.
He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Alesia Ann Parish of the home; two children, Bobby Lee Parish II and wife, Le’Ann, and Ann Marie Parish, all of Noel; three grandchildren, Zoe Elizabeth Parish, John Matthew Parish and Daniel Lee Parish; his mother, Mary Jean Parish of Noel; a sister, Mary Sue Parish of Noel; his aunt and uncle, Anna Lee and Wayne Emanuel of Sulphur Springs, Ark.; and a host of other family and friends.
Funeral services were held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017, at the Noel Elementary School with Pastor Cecil Hall officiating. Burial followed in the Noel Cemetery. Those honoring his life by serving as pallbearers were Tim Kilby, Flint Cummings, David Holloway, Andrew Sherman, Kyle Jordan, Bob Porterfield, Matt Watkins, Travis White and Nathan Sherman. Dick Davis, Don Underwood, David Collingsworth, Aaron Sherman, Wayne Emanuel and Gary Bowman served as honorary pallbearers. The family received friends on Friday evening from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Noel Chapel of Ozark Funeral Homes. In lieu of flowers memorials are being directed to the McDonald County Schools Foundation for FFA scholarships c/o the funeral home.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www. ozarkfuneralhome.com.
Arrangements were under the personal care and direction of the Ozark Funeral Home in Noel.