Gerald James Parsons (1924 - 2003)

Born 30 Jun 1924 in Syracuse, Onondaga Co., NY

Ancestors

Died 29 Dec 2003 at age 79 in Syracuse, Onondaga Co., NY

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Biography

Gerald J. Parsons was born 30 June 1924 Syracuse, Onondaga Co., NY. ^[1]

Gerald J. Parsons passed away December 29, 2003, at Crouse Hospital after a lengthy battle with cancer. Mr. Parsons was born in Syracuse, NY, and graduated as valedictorian of his class in June 1942. He served in the army during World War II, from March 1943 through January 1946. He was a member of the 275th Engineer Combat Battalion 75th Division during the Battle of the Bulge, continuing with them in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, receiving credit for the Ardennes Central Europe and Rhineland Campaigns. He was honorably discharged in January 1946. Mr. Parsons attended Syracuse University, where he received an A.B. in history in 1949 and a Master of Science in Library Science in June 1950. He is a member of Beta Phi Mu international library science honor society. Mr. Parsons began his professional career in 1950 in the Rochester Public Library where he served as head of the Education, Philosophy and Religion Division. He joined the staff at the Syracuse Public Library (now the Onondaga County Public Library) in September 1958, he retired from there in March of 1986 after almost 26 years as the librarian of the Local History and Genealogy Department. Mr. Parsons published his first piece of historical writing in 1942; since that time he has published numerous genealogical articles including many in the American Genealogical magazine where he was a contributing editor from 1952 to 1982. He was a book review editor for Tree Talks the journal of the CNY Genealogical Society. In January 2003, Mr. Parsons published Our Parsons Heritage, which represented 66 years of research. In November 2003, he published his last work, The Wilson Family. Mr. Parsons was elected a Fellow of the American Society Genealogists in September 1955, the highest honor one can achieve in the field of American Genealogy. He was a member of numerous organizations including the CNY Genealogical Society, Onondaga Historical Association and the Alumni Association of Syracuse University and its School of Information Studies. Mr. Parsons is survived by a brother and sister-in-law, Paul and Joy Parsons of Chesapeake, Virginia, formerly of Liverpool, NY; a nephew, Brian Parsons of Portsmouth, Virginia; a niece, Cynthia Sullivan of Hannibal, NY; two great-nephews; two great-nieces; a cousin, Stuart Wilson of Liverpool, NY, and numerous extended family members. Services will be 11:30 a.m, Saturday at Fairchild & Meech DeWitt Chapel, 3690 Erie Blvd. E., calling hours will be 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at the funeral chapel. Spring burial will be in South Butler Cemetery. Contributions may be made in Mr. Parsons name to the Onondaga County Public Library or the Onondaga County Historical Society.^[2]He was listed in Who's Who in Genealogy & Heraldry, volumes I and II.

Sources

1. ↑ The Wilson Family Descendants of John Wilson, Mariner Together With an Account of The Brown Family Gerald J. Parsons, F.A.S.G.
2. ↑ Syracuse Post Standard on 12-31-2003.