Lawrence R. Parsons Jr.

Lawrence Richard (Dick) Parsons, Jr., age 92, died peacefully Thursday morning October 14, 2010 at Mayview in Raleigh.
He was born in Burlington, New Jersey and came to Raleigh to attend NCSU on a Forestry scholarship. He graduated from NCSU with a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1941. He met his wife, Edna Hines Bynum at an Alpha Kappa Pi fraternity dance, and they married in 1941. In 1952 he and Edna Hines built a house in Wake County (now Runnymede Road) where he lived until he moved to Whitaker Glen in March, 2002.
He entered the Navy in March, 1942, and completed officers’ training at Notre Dame. He was assigned to command the Munitions Factory in Bristol Tennessee and was discharged as a Lt. Senior Grade December, 1945.
After World War II, Dick returned to Raleigh and worked in the family printing business until his retirement in 1998. Dick also served on the Board of Directors for Raleigh Federal Savings and Loan for over 38 years.
Dick was a devoted member of Christ Church for over 70 years where he served as lay reader and member of the choir. He was also a member of the Jaycees, Raleigh Lions Club, Stag Club, and the Sphinx Club.
In his eighties, he began volunteering at Fred Olds Elementary School where the children and staff were the light of his life. He mentored there for over 10 years. When Dick decided he could no longer serve on a regular basis, he recruited his replacement and went with him to introduce him to staff and students.
Dick is survived by his son, Lawrence Richard Parsons, III of New Bern, his daughter and son-in-law Julie and Joel New of Raleigh, granddaughters and their husbands, Theo and Andrew Johnson and their daughters Julia and Susanna of Twyford, England and Bynum and Matt Walter of Baltimore. He is preceded in death by his wife, Edna Hines and his sister, Almeda.
A funeral service will be held at Christ Church, 120 East Edenton Street, in Raleigh on Monday, October 18 at 11:00 AM. Burial will follow the church service in Oakwood Cemetery. The family will receive friends in the church parlor at 10:00 AM prior to the service.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hospice of Wake County, 250 Hospice Circle Raleigh, NC 27607-6372 or Olds Elementary School, 204 Dixie Trail Raleigh, NC 27607.
The family would like to express its appreciation to Dr. James Parsons and the staff at Whitaker Glen and Mayview for the excellent care and friendship given to Dick. They would also like to thank LaVern Reid and the
Olds Elementary School family, a special care giver, Rufus Short and the staff of Hospice of Wake County.