| Jerry Parchert, 45
REYNOLDS, Ill. - Rockridge High School science teacher and head
baseball coach Jerry Parchert died Saturday at Trinity Medical
Center-East Campus, Moline, Hospice Unit.
Services will be 1 p.m. Tuesday at United Methodist Church,
Reynolds. Burial will be in Reynolds Cemetery.
Visitation will be 3-9 p.m. today at Jinks Funeral Home, Reynolds.
Eddie Nicholson, a former player under Parchert, remembers the
coach as someone who encouraged his players to do the best they could on
and off the field.
Parchert did his best during his year-long battle with cancer - a
battle he lost Saturday.
Winning and losing were unimportant to the man who spent 22 years
teaching students to be proud of who they were and to find the positive
in every situation.
"He cared for each and every individual that he coached and
each and every individual that he taught," said Nicholson, a 1991
graduate of Rockridge who played two seasons for Parchert, serving as
captain his senior year. "He meant a lot to everyone and touched a
lot of people."
In addition to being a teacher, Parchert had been a farmer and
brick layer.
He married Shirley Mack in 1969 in Matherville.
He was a graduate of Western Illinois University.
He was a member of the church. Last summer he went on a mission
trip to Pachica, Chili, in the Andes Mountains, to help build an
agricultural school for the Amyra Indians. He served as president of the
Rockridge Baseball Association, organized and coordinated Rockridge
elementary girls' basketball program and coached baseball, basketball
and junior high football for many years. He was junior varsity
basketball coach and head baseball coach at the high school. He was a
die-hard Cub fan, and his favorite college teams were Illinois and
whoever was playing Iowa. He helped organize the Tri-County Youth
Baseball Program and was an avid golfer.
Memorials may be made to the Jerry Parchert Fund or an educational fund
for his children.
Survivors include his wife; daughters, Tonya and Tami, Reynolds;
a son Jason, Reynolds; his mother Gloryl Parchert, Aledo; sisters Linda
Brown, Viola; and Connie Short, Apple Valley, Minn.; and a brother,
Arnie, Somonavc, Ill.
(Quad-city Times, Monday, April 12, 1993)
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