Obituary of ION PARRISH

ION PARRISH December 27, 1952 - March 22, 2015 After a life lived fully and happily, our gentle giant passed away. He survived bladder cancer and its recurrences for 27 years with fortitude and attitude. lon loved Debbie and Kaitlin and Rene and Vivienne and Sadie and his family. He enjoyed everything techie that required attachments and programming and snowmobiling with his long-time friends of the 'boys club' especially Bob and Glenn. He liked watching The Abyss, Bones and China Beach, reading Tom Clancy books, listening to The Doors, eating barbeque steak and mushrooms and cherry strudels. He cherished cuddling with Vivienne curled into his lap and reading her the stories 'Looking for Lisa' and 'Lowly Worm' and was happy to get to know his new granddaughter Sadie. He looked forward to relaxing at the cottage at Traverse Bay and puttering in the garage or riding his ATV in the bush. He loved inventing new uses for gadgets or gizmos, controlling the remote to the TV and being a Poppa and Dad. Ion liked swimming in the ocean at Playa del Carmen and drinking scotch on the beach with Debbie. He enjoyed feeding his squirrels and bunnies on their daily visits. He spent time reading instruction manuals, looking through Canadian Tire ads and catalogues. He was excited to help Rene, Gilles, Joe and brother Ernie build the new house. He was proud seeing Kaitlin become a happy, beautiful. independent woman and mom. Ion loved dancing with Debbie to the music of the 60's and 70's (and listening to her sing!). He looked forward to daily chats with Ernie, Jerry and Dick. He loved being a home visitor for new urostomates of the Winnipeg Ostomy Association (WOA). If you called Ion for anything he was always willing to help. The last 8 years were rough as bladder cancer reoccurred four times and took his bladder and prostate, then one kidney and finally infected the other. He was a survivor to the end. Special thanks to urologist Dr. Cho, oncologist Dr.Gingerich and the caring staff of McCharles CancerCare, Palliative Care, Home Care, Grace Hospital and doctors’ offices. Thanks also to the caring and compassionate staff at Riverview Health Centre during the past five weeks including Dr. St. Godard and Dr. Garcia. Ion will be missed by his brother Ernie (Dorothy); sisters-in-law, Lynne (Jerry), Janice (Dick), Barb; nephews and nieces, Stewart (Lynn), Laureen, Rob, Ryan (Colette), Stacy (Casey), Blair, Jason, Melissa, Nelrene (Fredric), Jodene, Aaron (Karen;) great-nephews and nieces, (Cassandra, Cole, Harlee, Ryder, Ryker, Greta and Eddie); and cousin Brian (Vicki) and his good friends Bob and Shirley, Glenn and Alice, Gilles and Yvette, and Kay. He will be missed most deeply by Kaitlin, Rene, Vivienne and Sadie, and his love, Debbie. Donations in his memory can be made to the WOA or the Grace Hospital. As per Ion's wishes, a private celebration of life will be held. Tell someone you cherish that you love them or buy them flowers. "I would have missed the pain, but I’d of had to miss the Dance" - Garth Brooks "If you're lost, you can look - and you will find me...Time after Time" - Cyndi Lauper "Then one by one the stars would all go out, then you and I would simply fly away" - Bread