Stephen M. Parrish

Parrish, Stephen Maxfield

Ithaca: Stephen Maxfield Parrish, Goldwin Smith Professor of English Emeritus at Cornell University and resident of Kendal at Ithaca, died January 11, 2012. He was ninety. Professor Parrish was born on June 11, 1921 to Weyland Maxfield and Greta Leigh Parrish in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the third of four children. He earned his B.A. from the University of Illinois in 1942. He then enlisted in the U.S. Navy and worked in Naval Intelligence in both World War II and the Korean War. He went on to earn his M.A. degree in 1947, and his Ph.D., in 1954, from Harvard University. That same year he accepted a teaching position in the English Department at Cornell University where he remained until his retirement in 1991. He was also the general editor of The Cornell Concordances, The Cornell Yeats, and The Cornell Wordsworth, all multi-volume projects. Professor Parrish brought a wonderful enthusiasm for learning and experience that informed his teaching and his relationships with friends and family. While possessing a rigorous intellect, he also had a gentle demeanor that made him easily approachable by students and peers alike. He loved Ithaca and the country around it and enjoyed swimming and picnicking at Taughannock, where he taught his daughters and his grandchildren to swim to the raft. He was predeceased by his first wife, Dr Jean Jacob Parrish , second wife Priscilla Alden Keifer Baker-Carr Parrish, grandnephew David Henwood, and nephew Stephen Henwood. He is survived by two daughters: Madeleine Patterson and husband Roland, Anne Christiansen and husband John; six grandchildren: Leigh Marshall, Sarah, Becca and Laura Patterson and Bob and Lauren Christiansen; nephew Dave Henwood and his wife Grace; niece Miranda Hay and partner Hilary Hay-Blue; and stepchildren Sue Baker-Carr and Kit Baker-Carr. A memorial service is planned for June 2nd at 2:00 p.m. at the Ithaca Friends Meeting House on 3rd and Madison. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Cornell Library.