Henry Wilton Parsons

Moline, Illinois Henry W. Parsons, 93, of Moline, well-known area attorney, died Tuesday, August 24, 2004, in Trinity Medical Center, Rock Island. Services are 11 a.m. Friday at First Congregational Church, Moline, with The Reverend Virginia Pych officiating. Burial is in National Cemetery on the Rock Island Arsenal. Visitation is 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Trimble Funeral and Cremation Center, Moline. Memorials may be made to the church. Henry Wilton Parsons was born September 7, 1910, in Moline, Illinois, to Wilton and Lillian (Hunt) Parsons. His father was the first of his family born in America, after the family emigrated from London, England, in 1867. Mr. Parsons joined First Congregational Church in Moline in 1924. He graduated from Moline High School in 1928 and from Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1932, with a double major in Geology and Political Science. During his college years he spent a summer working as an ordinary seaman on a freighter from Boston to Buenos Aires and back. Mr. Parsons was an attorney who received a Juris Doctor degree cum laude from Northwestern University Law School in 1935. That year he went into the practice of law with his father, who had established his law practice in Moline in 1897. Last year illness forced him to close his law office, but he never really retired, as he continued to do law work from his home. On December 25, 1941, he was married to Dorothy Louise Robison in First Methodist Church of Moline. They had an exceptionally happy marriage, which endured for 62 years. Immediately after his marriage Mr. Parsons enlisted in the U. S. Army and served 4 1/2 years during World War II. He started his army work as a weather observer, but switched to Courts and Boards. For 3 1/2 years he did investigative work for the army out of the 8th Service Command in Dallas, Texas. He was stationed in San Antonio, Texas, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Parsons' community service and volunteer activities over the years include teaching Sunday School and being an assistant scout master. As a young man he was very active with the Moline and Rock Island County Republican organizations. He served on the YMCA Board of Directors, the Bethany Home Board, the Board of the Moline Welfare Association, and the Board of the Cleveland King's Daughters Home in Rock Island. For twelve years Mr. Parsons was on the Moline District 40 School Board, and during that time served several years on the Illinois Association of School Boards. He was a member of First Congregational Church of Moline, the Moline Rotary Club (since 1937), the Rock Island County Bar Association, which he served as Secretary-Treasurer for 32 years, and the Illinois Bar Association. Mr. Parsons is survived by his beloved wife, Dorothy; four children and their spouses, Linda and Donald Cohn of Arlington, Massachusetts, Wilton and Sheryl Parsons of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Charles and Susan Parsons of Lake City, Michigan, and Mary and Donald Caisley of Shorewood, Illinois; nine grandchildren and spouses, Jaret and Kathleen McDonald, Hallie and Joseph Bradford, Charles and Susan Caisley, Henry Cohn, Laura Caisley, Edward Cohn, Linda and Gregory Bailey, Mary Parsons, and Sarah Parsons; one great-grandchild, Dorothy Rose Caisley; and his brother and sister-in-law, the Rev. Horace W. and Miriam Parsons of Whitewater, Wisconsin. He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, Esther Parsons, and two brothers, Dr. Harold H. Parsons, and Edward W. Parsons. Remembrances and condolences may be shared with the family at www.TrimbleFuneralHomes.com. END OF OBITUARY