With great celebration among angels in Heaven, Bobby Joseph (Bob) Parnell joined his Lord and Savior on January 4, 2021, three weeks after celebrating his 75th birthday. Bob lived with joy and faith and left a beautiful legacy of life before losing a brief battle against cancer.

Bob was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma on December 13, 1945 to Andrew Joseph Parnell and Carrie Lee Cartwright. He spent most of his younger years in the Shawnee area and attended high school in Dale and Shawnee where he was an exceptional multi-sport athlete, particularly in baseball.

Bob always felt a need to serve his country and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1965 at the age of 19. He served as a jet mechanic in the Pacific during the Vietnam conflict and was honorably discharged in 1969 at the rank of Staff Sergeant.

Bob was a gentle giant, having a heart far greater than his large stature. His sense of humor was boundless and is what many family members and friends will remember and miss most about him.

Most importantly, Bob was a committed man of God and actively served the Church as an ordained Deacon and behind the scenes as the sound technician. His love of the Lord changed his life for the better at several key points in his life.
 

Bob married his life-long love Phyllis Lynn (Black) Parnell on April 8, 1967 after their meeting near Burns Flat, Oklahoma while stationed at Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base. He began the favorite chapter of his life with the birth of their first child, Lyn Alisa, on October 4, 1968. Bob, Phyllis, and baby Alisa relocated briefly to Washington state to take a job with Boeing upon leaving the Air Force. They soon returned permanently to Oklahoma in 1970.
 

The Parnell family was completed with the arrival of son Joseph Scott on March 26, 1975. Bob and Scott would enjoy countless hunting trips as life-long hunting partners. He loved being a father and felt his two children were the things in life he was most proud of.

After working for Aircraft Engine Service, Bob joined the U.S. Postal Service in 1976 as a letter carrier, retiring in 2006 after more than 30 years of service. He most enjoyed serving people and interacting with those at residences and businesses on his routes.
 

Bob was a quintessential people-person who never met a stranger and enjoyed interacting with others. His retirement jobs included working at Mercer-Adams Funeral Service to fulfill his love of service to others and in the firearm section at Bass-Pro to subsize his passion for hunting.

His deep western heritage was evident to all who knew him, including family members who nervously watched him ride bulls in his younger days. He was an avid hunter, an expert shot, and trained several bird dogs. A family story that continues today is Bob teaching first-born daughter Alisa how to retrieve birds until younger brother Scott came along to accompany him on hunting trips.

Bob loved the outdoors and preferred taking camping trips with Phyllis over most any other activity. Camping with extended family and friends over many years were some of his fondest memories. Favorite destinations were the Great Smoky Mountains and Lake Canton near Watonga.

He readily transitioned to life as ‘Papa Bob’ after the birth of his first grandchild. He cherished each of his five grandchildren – Libby Parnell, Colt Parnell, Jacob Parnell, Emilyn Snead, and Katie Belle Snead. Attending and cheering on his grandchildren at baseball games, music and dance recitals, and other events were among his favorite activities in retirement. He also passed down the love of the outdoors to his grandchildren. Camping, fishing, or hunting with them gave him tremendous joy.

Bob and Phyllis celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2017 with great joy and appreciation for the long marriage they were gifted. The love they showed in renewing their vows that day reflected the beautiful 53 years they eventually spent together.

Bob’s greatest testimony may be his role as caretaker for Phyllis as she battled Multiple Sclerosis for more than three decades. He selflessly devoted himself to her care until her recent passing on October 29, 2020.
 

We are comforted in knowing he is again dancing in heaven with Phyllis. Papa Bob, Bob, Bobby, Daddy, Friend. He has claimed his heavenly reward and he has heard the words he longed to hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant.  Well done.”