Johnny Parsons' Obituary
Johnny Parsons was called home into the arms of his Heavenly Father during the morning hours of Thursday, May 16, 2024, at the age of 88. He was most assuredly happy to be reunited with the love of his life, Roma Parsons, who went before him in November, 2022. Johnny was born Johnny Ray Parsons, the youngest of 4 children, to Julia Runnels Parsons and William Clifford Parsons. Johnny was raised for most of his childhood by a single mother, and life was not easy. He learned at a very early age the value of hard work and quit high school before graduation to help provide for the family. He was mostly a loner, and he spent much of his free time with his dog Jack and exploring the area, riding his bicycle on the long stretches of what was then a familiar dirt road, Market Street. At the age of sixteen, Johnny was introduced by friends to Roma. From the beginning, the two were almost inseparable, and they spent the next 70 years together.
As with most marriages, there were ups and downs, but the two of them overcame those difficulties. Roma’s continued prayers and living example were finally rewarded when Johnny began to attend church with her and their three children, and he accepted Christ at the age of 35 during a revival. His dedication to the service of our Lord was almost immediate, and he spent countless hours working the bus ministry to pick up neighborhood children for Sunday School, driving the church bus for the youth activities and the “old” folks at church, as a sponsor for the youth group and in any other capacity where he was needed. He took such great joy in doing these things and, as he did so, he developed many deep and long-lasting relationships with the people he interacted with.
Family was extremely important to Johnny, and there was nothing that made him happier than being able to spend time with his kids and grandkids, especially if it involved doing something outdoors. He loved being on the tractor mowing or working on a construction project with his kids and/or grandkids and sharing his experience and knowledge. Johnny was never what anyone could consider lazy, and he also loved being in his machine shop. From the time he opened the shop in 1983, he worked tirelessly to provide top-notch specialty machining services to his customers. He continued to work in the shop five days a week until he was forced to sell the business due to health concerns at the age of 86.
The loss of his livelihood, followed shortly after by the loss of his lifelong partner, had a tremendous impact on Johnny, and he grieved the loss of both, along with his inability to be physically active and do the things that used to bring him such joy. We are grateful to say goodbye to him with the confidence that he is now back with Roma in the presence of our Lord, and that he will never again have to experience hardship or grief again.
Johnny is preceded in death by his parents, Julia Runnels Parsons and William Clifford Parsons, his older sister Carolyn June Beard and older brothers William Clifford Parsons and Clifford Earl Parsons, and his son, Johnny Lee Parsons. He is survived by his daughters, Janet Rae Parsons and Barbara Parsons Roehling; daughter-in-law Olga Parsons of Victoria (surviving wife of son Johnny Parsons); six grandchildren, Brandi Rosas, Jacqueline Roehling, Brandon Parsons, Jeremy Roehling, Jared Roehling, and Brittany Parsons; seven great-grandchildren, Bria Rosas, Lucas Rosas, Gracie Parsons, Gibson Parsons, Alden Roehling, Rebecca Roehling, and Atticus Parsons; and many nieces and nephews.
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