Obituary of William Todd Parsons

William Todd "Bill" Parsons Town of Wappinger -- William Todd "Bill" Parsons, 81, a long-time community activist, retired auto dealer and later a newspaper editor and columnist, died Saturday, May 12, 2007 at his home. A lifelong resident of the Town of Wappinger, he was born in an old farmhouse, since torn down, on the family farm on Myers Corners Road on November 17, 1925, the son of Edward Sheldon Parsons and Genevieve (Campbell) Parsons. He attended the former Myers Corners one-room grade school on All Angels Hill Road for seven years and Wappingers High for two years. During World War II, he served in the Army as a combat infantryman in Europe (Germany), taking part in three major battles (campaigns), including the Battle for the Hurtgen Forest, the Battle of the Bulge and the Remagen/Rhine River Bridgehead, with D Company, 311th Infantry Regiment, 78th (Lightning) Infantry Division. Among the nine awards he received were the Combat Infantryman's Badge and the Bronze Star Medal. On March 18, 1950, in the Zion Episcopal Church in Wappingers Falls, he married the former Helen Marie Sutton of Clove Valley. He was a life member of the New Hackensack Fire Company and one of its founders in 1949. He was an active firefighter for 55 years. He also served as a New Hackensack Fire District commissioner for 35 years and was chairman of that board for 18 years. Bill was a director of the former Mid-Hudson Savings Bank for 22 years and a director of the First Inter-Bancorp, the parent holding company of Mid-Hudson Savings for five years. He also served on advisory boards of the First Fidelity Bank and the First Union National Bank (now the Wachovia Bank). He was a member of the Town of Wappinger Planning Board for 21 years and served as its chairman for several years. He also was a member of the Dutchess County Planning Board for 12 years. He served for many years on the Children's Home of Poughkeepsie's Board of Counselors. Bill served on the Dutchess County BOCES Tech Center Advisory Committee for 16 years. He was a Vassar Brothers Hospital trustee for several years and a Grinnell Library trustee for many years. He had also served on the board of the former Sloper-Willen Community Ambulance Corp. He worked on the Dutchess County E-9-1-1 committee, as well as several sub-committees for that group, from its conception to the completion of the E-9-1-1 emergency reporting system in the fall of 1999. Once E 9-1-1 was in place, he served on the Dutchess County 9-1-1 Oversight Committee from its beginning in 1999 until late 2004, resigning because of his health. Bill, while growing up, worked on local farms. After he quit school at age 16, he went to work as a truck driver for the Sears Brothers feed and grain store in Fishkill Plains until he entered the Army at age 18. After the war, he returned there and later worked a few years for IBM in one of their warehouses. He and his brother, John started a small part-time used car operation on Myers Corners Road in 1950 on what was part of the family farm. Over the years, that grew into an American Motors/Jeep dealership as well as a GMC Truck dealership. They sold the dealerships in June 1979 and both semi-retired. Beginning in 1981, Bill became the managing editor of the Southern Dutchess News newspaper group and also wrote a widely read weekly column called "The Way I See It." He retired as the group's editor in 1996, but continued to write the column for the newspaper group for more than 20 years. Starting in 1987, he also wrote for, edited and published a quarterly 120-page magazine called "The Flash" for the 3,500 members of his World War II Infantry Division's (the 78th) association. While doing that, he traveled a dozen or more times to the division's old battlegrounds in Europe, and helped dedicate numerous plaques (some jointly with their former enemies, the Germans) at old battle sites. All during that time, he also served on the Executive Committee of that association. In 1993, he commissioned - and along with his wife Helen, and his brother John -- donated most of the funds for the Town of Wappinger World War II War Memorial standing in Schlathaus Park at the intersection of Myers Corners and All Angels Hill Roads. The statue, and the story the statue tells of a combat infantryman saying good-bye to his dead buddy, was designed by Bill. In 1994, Bill and Helen, and his brother John, were each honored by the Exchange Club of Southern Dutchess. They received the club's Annual Meritorious Service Award for outstanding community service. In 1995, Bill was honored by the U.S. Department of Defense, World War II Commemoration Committee, for outstanding efforts in behalf of World War II veterans of all the services, with a medal and a plaque. Bill was a member of the Wappinger Masonic Lodge, F.&A.M. since 1947, a member of the New York State Fire Chief's Association and a life-member of the Manny-Bacon American Legion Post in Hopewell Jct. In addition to his wife Helen, he is survived by two brothers, John, Town of Poughkeepsie and James, Town of New Paltz; one niece and three nephews - and a special grand-niece, Amanda Diesing. He was predeceased by his parents, his only sister, Mrs. Edwin W. (Jean) Smith who died June 6, 1991 and an older brother, Edward S. Parsons, Jr. who died October 15, 1999. There will be no calling hours. Burial will be private in Helen and Bill's mausoleum in the Wappingers Rural Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of the Straub Funeral Home, 55 East Main St., Wappingers Falls. Donations may be made in his memory to the New Hackensack Fire Company, 217 Myers Corners Rd., Wappingers Falls, NY 12590 or The Children's Home of Poughkeepsie, 10 Children's Way, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601.