Gary David Parsons

Gary “Scrapper” Parsons, age 54, of St. Peter, passed on Friday, January 29, 2016 at River’s Edge Hospital in St. Peter in his angel Sherry’s arms.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, February 5 at 1:00 p.m. at Northview-North Mankato Mortuary. Gary was able to donate his corneas, in hopes of helping others with the gift of sight.

Gary was born on March 7, 1961 in Blue Earth to Ernest and Viola (Fenske) Parsons. He was confirmed in the Methodist faith. Gary graduated from Blue Earth High School in 1979. He studied mechanics at the Mankato Technical College. In May of 1980, Gary had a car accident that left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He worked at Sherwood Auto and Western Auto as a parts manager. He then started working for MICO Inc. in 1997. He also started working at Sam’s Club as a door greeter in 2007, he absolutely loved the customers there. As he held these two jobs, he continued his third job of scrapping metal. Gary really enjoyed scrapping metal and loved NASCAR and collecting guns. Sherry always said he worked harder than any walking man she knew. Gary and Sherry discovered that he had cancer in March 2013. Gary married Sherry A. George on June 1, 2013 at the Little Brown Church in Iowa. They continued to live on Gary’s 12 acre farm until October 2014 when they moved to St. Peter. The night before he passed, he said he was still fighting the cancer.

Gary is survived by his wife, Sherry of St. Peter; step-daughters, Jenny George of Cottage Grove and Katie Jo George (Derek Emerson) of Kasota; a special little girl he considered his granddaughter, Kailah Miller of Cottage Grove; brothers, Larry Parsons and Terry Parsons both of Blue Earth; niece, Raelynn (Austin) Decker; nephew, Skyler Parsons; great-nephew, Aiden Decker; and very special longtime friend, Beverly Kopischke, who stood up for Sherry and Gary when they were married. He was preceded in death by his parents.