Ron’s gifts on earth were not the kind that dazzled the world and caused others to stand in awe. He did not pass from this world with the reputation as a great preacher or a profound scholar, but he had great measures of grace and humility. Someone has summed up well what I would say about Ron: “If you did not know him, no words are sufficient. If you did know him, no words are necessary.” I have no doubt that he was greeted by the Lord Jesus with the words: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).

Having been reared as a Baptist in his youth, Ron Parrish (1951-2021) was so fond of singing, “One glad morning when my life is over, I’ll fly away….” That glad morning for him came on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, sometime between 4 AM and 5 AM (EST). When the nurses at Candler Hospital had checked on Ron at 4 AM, he was sleeping and breathing normally. When they made their rounds at 5 AM, he had passed away from cardiac arrest.

Ron had been hospitalized with Covid-19 since October 25, 2020. He was on a ventilator for almost two months during which time he was also mostly unconscious. Twice his wife, Donna, was told that he probably would not live through the night. However, he woke up shortly before Christmas, confused and struggling to understand what had happened. For several weeks he had to have kidney dialysis three times a week, and was so weak that he could not push the call button to get the nurses when he needed them.

The week before his death had seemingly brought a change for the better. He was going through rehabilitation. He was taking speech therapy (for swallowing) and was learning to sit up and move his body again. A journal entry on Ron’s CaringBridge site on January 24 was very hopeful. Ron was fully awake, breathing normally, and mentally and physically participatory in his recovery. It appeared that he had turned the corner. Then came the call of God for him to “come home” to his eternal mansion.

Ron was born on June 13, 1951 in Montezuma, GA, the first child of M. H. “Prince” and Ann Carr Parrish. Soon after his birth, the family moved back to Prince’s hometown of Greensboro, GA where Ron spent all his childhood. Through attendance at the First Baptist Church of Greensboro and participation in high school athletics, he formed several friendships which greatly impacted his Christian growth. PCA minister, Jimmy Stewart, and his brother, A. T. Stewart (a Baptist minister), encouraged Ron to attend Belhaven College (now Belhaven University) in Jackson, MS. Ron attended Georgia Southern in Statesboro, GA his first year before transferring to Belhaven for his sophomore to senior years (1970-73). At Belhaven, he majored in Bible and minored in Christian Education. As a fellow Belhaven student, it was my privilege to be his roommate and best friend.

After graduation from Belhaven in 1973, Ron fully intended to attend New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. My hopes and prayers were that he would attend Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson. Having been offered summer positions at two different Presbyterian churches in the summer of 1973, I took one offer (Jackson Street Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, LA) and highly recommended Ron for the other position at First Presbyterian Church in Laurel, MS. Ron still seemed intent on going to New Orleans Seminary, but I had one last hand to play and persuaded him to join me at RTS. There we roomed together for two years before he postponed his senior year to work on the mission field in Belize for a year.

Ron graduated from RTS in May of 1977 and took a position soon thereafter as an assistant pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Montgomery, AL where he was ordained to the ministry on November 5, 1978. It was also in Montgomery that he met his wife of 41 years, Donna Evans Parrish, who was part of a contingency of nurses from Canada who were only going to be in the US for a short period. A ruling elder at the First Church told Ron of the new Canadian nurses who had just arrived, and he willingly volunteered to go meet them to invite them to church. Less than a year later Ron and Donna were married in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on October 26, 1979.

In his professional career, Ron also served as a mission Pastor in Martinsville, VA; as an interim Pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, VA; Pastor at Chestnut Mountain Presbyterian Church in Chestnut Mountain, GA; Pastor at Hull Memorial Presbyterian Church in Savannah, GA; Associate Pastor at McIlwain Presbyterian Church in Pensacola, FL; and Associate Pastor at Independent Presbyterian Church (IPC) in Savannah, GA.

He spent the last 26 years of his career at IPC where he found his true niche in the ministry. He was a people person. He was gregarious with a great sense of humor and an uncanny gift for making others laugh. He could remember songs and shows in detail and often mimicked his favorite characters, especially Barney Fife. I am told that staff meetings at IPC were never the same whenever Ron was absent.

Unknown to Ron, several student pastors at IPC through the years have told me how much they learned from him about pastoral ministry and hospital visitation. Visiting members in their homes in times of need or distress; counseling with people; and praying with them were some of his strengths in the ministry. Greeting members and visitors alike while making his rounds before the worship service. Through that means, he was able to make numerous new friends from various parts of the U.S. and the world.

Ron is the only person I have known that I can honestly say I never saw get angry or lose his temper. He was remarkably self-controlled in that respect. I saw him wounded in spirit and hurt in various ways, but I never saw him lash back in anger.

When we were in college, Ron often told me that he aspired to emulate the conviction of John the Baptist: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Those who knew Ron know that he never was braggadocios. When Independent Presbyterian Church honored him for his 20 years of service, he responded with a note of public thanks by saying, “To quote my favorite homespun philosopher, Bernard P. Fife, ‘You know how I hate all this fuss and falderal, Lord knows the job itself is reward enough.’” He would have been embarrassed by the Memorial service held at IPC on Friday, January 29, 2021. In all my years of knowing him, I never heard him verbally pat himself on his back. He was quick to praise others, but never himself.

A tidbit that few people know is that Ron would find out-of-print volumes by the Puritans or other Reformed authors that were badly typeset, and he would work tirelessly preparing them for publication. He would then send the document files to various publishers in hopes that they would be reprinted. His most recent effort was a book published by Reformation Heritage Books on September 29, 2020: The Great Concern: Preparation for Death by the Puritan author, Edward Pearce. Yet, he would never allow any publisher to make any reference to his labors. He just wanted the books to be in print. He passed that book out to the staff members at IPC shortly before he contracted Covid-19.

Ron’s gifts on earth were not the kind that dazzled the world and caused others to stand in awe. He did not pass from this world with the reputation as a great preacher or a profound scholar, but he had great measures of grace and humility. Someone has summed up well what I would say about Ron: “If you did not know him, no words are sufficient. If you did know him, no words are necessary.” I have no doubt that he was greeted by the Lord Jesus with the words: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).

Ron is survived by his wife, Donna; their children, Matthew Parrish (Ann), Leighann Rosenfeld (Victor), Andrew Parrish (Claire), David Parrish; and their grandchildren, Max Rosenfeld and Joel Parrish.

January 26, 2021 was a sad day for those who loved Ron on earth, but it was a glad morning in heaven when he flew away to be forever with the Lord.

Dr. Dewey Roberts is Pastor of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Destin, FL.