OBITUARY- Gene T. Parish

Gene T. Parish, 88, of Concord died Saturday February 22, 2014 in Concord. He was the beloved husband of 66 years of Harriet (Dinsmoor) Parish and father of William D. Parish of Littleton, Anne Parish Larsen and her husband Richard of Shelburne Falls, MA, and Thomas R. Parish and his wife Stephanie of Westford. He was also the grandfather of Dana Larsen and Jaimye Larsen, both of Shelburne Falls, MA, Eva Parish of Palo Alto, CA and Charlotte Parish of Westford and the brother of Harold Parish of Richwood, Ohio and the late Elizabeth Ann Parish.

Gene was born and raised on a farm in Richwood, Ohio. After graduating from high school, he attended MIT with the Navy V-12 officer training program, receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1946. He later returned to MIT to complete a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Upon graduation from MIT, Gene was commissioned as an Ensign in the Navy and spent a year serving in the South Pacific assisting with the transition back to peacetime following the end of World War II.

Following his discharge from the Navy, Gene briefly returned to Ohio, working in Cleveland. However it was not long before he returned to Massachusetts where he lived for the rest of his life. Gene worked as a Mechanical Engineer his entire career, starting at M.I.T.’s Nuclear Lab and Supersonic Wind Tunnel, followed by High Voltage Engineering in Burlington and High Temperature Materials in Lowell. His last job was with Arthur D. Little in Cambridge, where he worked for 23 years. Gene’s work there focused on a number of NASA related projects, including three measurement/experimental devices that were delivered to the moon by the Apollo program.

Gene’s time in the Navy began a lifetime love of boating, including water skiing, which he continued to pursue even into his early 80’s. That love of boating even extended to “hard water”– taking up ice boating in the 1970’s. An avid musician, Gene was a charter member of the Concord Band, playing the Sousaphone with them for over 40 years. He was an active member of the Trinitarian Congregational Church in Concord, serving the Church in a number of capacities over the years. During his retirement years he volunteered as a driver for the Concord Council on Aging as well as delivering Meals-on-Wheels.

Concord's town flag will fly at half-staff on Monday March 3rd in recognition of Mr. Parish's service to his country in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Arrangements under the care of DEE FUNERAL HOME OF CONCORD, Susan M. Dee and Charles W. Dee, Jr., Funeral Directors.

To share a remembrance in the online guest book, please visit www.deefuneralhome.com

Memorials:
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts in Gene's name may be made to Trinitarian Congregational Church, 54 Walden Street, Concord, MA 01742.

Service:
A memorial service will be held on Monday, March 3, 2014 at 2:00 pm at the Trinitarian Congregational Church, 54 Walden Street, Concord, MA 01742