Wesley E. Parrish

Wesley Parrish, a beloved resident of Amo, Indiana and member of the Amo United Methodist Church was called home the evening of February 9, 2022.  He will be greeted at the pearly gates by his brother Joe, his father Wesley, and his mother Mildred.  Wes was raised in Otisco, Indiana where he graduated from Charlestown High School.  He fell in love  with a Scottsburg, Indiana girl, Robin (Chasteen), whom he married and loved for 44 years. In their humble beginnings they often ate the game he harvested from the nearby woods.  He laughed telling the story how Robin would cry while he skinned a squirrel that had been shot, which eventually led to him adapting a taste for store bought meat.  Robin blessed him with two daughters he loved dearly.  His first-born Melissa (Missy) and his youngest  daughter Tonya.  Wes moved his family north in 1986 and made their home in Amo.  He was a hardworking man that in his career delivered several million gallons of propane, often in freezing conditions, to keep his neighbors’ homes warm.  He worked more hours in 3 days than most people today work in a week while still never missing one of his daughters’ events.  He volunteered his time to the youth league in Amo where he coached his girls in softball and became the President of the league.  Wes loved to tinker in his garage where he spent hours making his girls furniture and other gifts from wood.  Each piece carefully assembled with all the love he had and is no doubt helping Christ prepare a place for us as promised in the Bible. After moving north, Wes became a motorcycle enthusiast and bragged he could ride all 12 months in the Indiana weather….as the lakes ‘up north’ did not compare with skiing on the Ohio River.  Wes and Robin took countless trips crisscrossing the roads from South Dakota to the Blue Ridge Mountains and back.  He cherished the time they spent together on those bikes and spent hours cleaning and waxing his 25^th Anniversary Goldwing Robin bought him.  He later found a love for off roading with his son-in-law Tom Whitaker.  Each time he wrecked and before he even dusted himself off he would shout, “Don’t tell Robin!” Wes’ faith was deep and unwavering.  Even when his health faded, he still studied the Word.  I was struck by his love as he sang hymns in his living room chair, too weak to make it church.  Wes is survived by his deeply devoted wife Robin who never left his side and tended to every single need he had from nutrition and exercise to unending reruns of the Andy Griffith Show.  His two daughters Missy and Tonya (Tom) Whitaker, his sisters Michelle (Urb) Wagner and Yolinda (Phil) Keith, and grandchildren Eli, Olivia, Jacob Whitaker whom he babysat after retiring.  You won’t find him on the streets of gold, that’s not his style. Wes will be riding the back roads of Heaven, patiently waiting for his wife to get on the back of the bike and his family to come home.  Visitation will be from 2:00 to 5:00 pm on Sunday, February 13, 2022 in the Hampton-Gentry Funeral Home, Plainfield.  Funeral services will be on Monday, February 14 at 11:00 am also in the funeral home.  Burial will follow in Amo Cemetery.