John C Parry

John C Parry lV
John Parry of Plymouth, MA passed away the afternoon of August 4, 2024. He is survived by his loving wife of 34 years Candi Russell Parry and their two children, John C. Parry V (Bri) and Ashley Parry (Eric), his ex-wife Anne Parry Becker and their two children, Alyson Drew (Parker) and Jennifer McCarthy (Kevin), and six grandchildren: Harper, Samantha, and Keegan Drew, Owen and Lucas McCarthy, and Lorelei Cramer. He is also survived by his beloved sister Susan Finlay Marrinan (Mike) as well as numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.
John was born on September 18, 1943 in Trenton, NJ to the late John C. Parry III and Mary Lu Spurrier Parry of Marcellus, NY. He was a graduate of Marcellus High School in upstate NY, where he played football, basketball, and baseball as well as Brown University, where he lettered in football, basketball and lacrosse. He was inducted into the Marcellus HS Hall of Fame and the Brown University Hall of Fame. After receiving his MBA from the Wharton School at UPenn, John spent the next 10 years in the Philadelphia area working for IBM and Instant Data Corp. However, his love of sports kept calling him away from a desk. In 1975 he followed his heart and true passion, returning to Brown to start a career in collegiate athletics. For the next 40 years he served as an Athletic Director at Brown, Butler, and Cleveland State, which brought him incredible joy. During his tenure as an athletic director, he served on the local host organizing committee for the NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Final Fours, sat on the NCAA Management Council, and served as President of the East Coast Athletic Conference.
He truly loved the game of lacrosse– In addition to playing, officiating, and coaching, he started programs at Butler and Cleveland State, served as chair of the NCAA Lacrosse Committee (where he was instrumental in establishing the men's Final Four), and was one of five founding members of the Indiana Chapter of US Lacrosse. John was also a fierce advocate for women's sports. He treated men's and women's sports and coaches equally and was committed to hiring women to coach women's sports whenever possible. Because of that, the Brown teams of the '80s had a lot of success before other DI women's teams did. His philosophy was always that he worked for the coaches, not vice versa. He was incredibly principled, honest, and fair to all, which made his coaches very loyal to him.
He was an avid reader and loved to watch college sports of any kind, and he was willing to travel far and wide to do so. He accompanied many collegiate teams on international trips to Germany, Belgium, Finland, Australia, Ireland, England, Brazil and beyond. In retirement, he and Candi went on many cruises to warm climates during the winter months. His favorite vacations were a cross-country train trip, an African Safari in Tanzania, and a cruise through the Panama Canal. He enjoyed walking the beach with Candi, reading 4-5 newspapers a day, playing poker, and serving on the board of our condo association. He was always thinking of what project should be tackled next to make our community better.
John's number one joy in life was his family. He wore many different hats over his lifetime, but his role as father and grandfather was by far his favorite. He always said that his kids are his legacy, and how incredibly proud he was of each of them. John supported his kids and grandkids on the field, on the stage, and in their intellectual pursuits. He was a kind and caring man who always wanted to help and please others. How one lives their "dash" is important, and he lived his fully. He will be forever missed and always loved.
A memorial service will be held at The Church of the Pilgrimage in Plymouth, MA, on Saturday, October 26th at 11am. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the John C. Parry Scholarship at Butler University (Butler University, Office of University Advancement, 4600 Sunset Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46208).