Louis D.W. Parsons ’52

Aviator, farmer, jazz lover, and beloved father, Lou died Nov. 3, 2011, at his home, Parsons Ranch, in Carpinteria, Calif., where he lived most of his life.

Lou came to Princeton from Choate and joined the flying club and Terrace. A lover of airplanes, he learned to fly at 15, delivered newspapers by air, and had a commercial pilot’s license at 18. With friends he leveled acres on the family farm and built a runway, which became Parsons Ranch Airpark and operated until the 1970s. Lou then planted it with avocados and lemons.

Lou brought his Beechcraft Bonanza with him to Princeton and filled it with classmates in flights to Sweet Briar, Cornell, and other places. He left after sophomore year for the Army. During the Korean War he served as a helicopter instructor at Fort Sill. He worked with the U.S. Forest Service in the first team of aviators fighting brush fires from the air. Later he refashioned a World War II B-25 as a firefighter, which is now in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

Lou was the devoted husband of Monica Comer Parsons, who died in 1994. Our sympathy goes to his children, Oliver M. and his wife, Karen, and Monique F. ’88, and his son-in-law, David T. Wecker ’89.