I usually do not cut and paste entire articles anymore, but in the case of a well respected community leader, I am making the exception.
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newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2010-12-22/Front_Page/Pastor_remembered_as_devoted_servant.htmlPastor remembered as devoted servant
Rev. Frederick Parrish led congregations in Manalapan and Freehold
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
The communities of Freehold and Howell are mourning the death of the Rev. Frederick Parrish, 70, who died on Dec. 8 at University Hospital in Newark.
The minister lived much of his life in Freehold and more recently in Howell.
At the time of his death, Parrish was serving as pastor of the Israel Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church in Newark. He was the former pastor of the Bethel AME Church on Waterworks Road, Freehold Township.
Parrish served four years in the U.S. Army and retired in 2002 after 20 years of service with Chevron, Gulf/GATX Oil Refinery, Staten Island, N.Y.
Jaye Sims, the president of the Borough Council in Freehold Borough, said Parrish was a lifelong friend of his.
Calling the pastor “a hard worker, a dedicated man” and “a man with a strong faith and strong values,” he said the Sims and Parrish families had strong ties and spent many Sunday dinners together, among other associations.
“He had a deep passion for religion and for Freehold. I was deeply saddened when I heard of his passing,” said Sims, who is member of Bethel AME Church in Freehold Township. “The Sims family will deeply miss Rev. Parrish and will remember all the work he did in his time at Bethel AME Church in Freehold.”
Sims noted that Parrish and the Rev. Malcolm Steele presided over the ceremony when he (Sims) married his wife, Danielle.
The council president called Parrish’s work as chairman of the Freehold Borough Humans Relations Committee “very productive” and said the minister worked hard on the committee for his community. Sims said Parrish supported him in his work on the town’s governing body.
Parrish served the Freehold Borough Police Department as a Special II police officer from 1967-72.
He was a member of the Freehold Clergy Association.
Lillie Hendry, who is also a member of the Bethel AME Church, said Parrish moved from the Bethel AME Church in Freehold Township to the Israel Memorial AME Church in Newark about 18 months ago.
“Rev. Parrish trained at Bethel AME under Rev. Steele when the church was on Haley Street and Avenue A, and he was from a native Freehold family,” she said.
Referring to the location chosen for Parrish’s funeral service, Bethel AME in Asbury Park, Hendry said that is where Parrish and his beloved wife, Crystal, met.
“That’s where they met and that is where they will part,” she said. “They were both so devoted to each other, and they were also partners in his ministry.”
Steele, who was the pastor of the Bethel AME Church for 36 years — when it was on Ave A in Freehold Borough and when the new church was built on Waterworks Road in Freehold Township — said he had known Parrish since 1969.
“He was a member of our church before he got the call,” Steele said.
Parrish became a minister in 1977 and worked with Steele at the Bethel AME Church until he was assigned his own church, St. James AME Church on Woodville Road, Manalapan.
Steele said Parrish was assigned to several other churches over the course of his religious career, including churches in Jersey City, Atlantic Highlands and more recently Newark.
Parrish returned to the Bethel AME Church in Freehold Township after Steele retired in 2001 and led the congregation until he was moved to Israel Memorial in Newark about 18 months ago.
“Rev. Parrish was a fine, studious individual. He was kind, and when he came to us his mission was to help people. He was a good minister, a good pastor,” Steele said.
Parrish was predeceased by his mother, Edna Mae, and father, William, and his brothers, Stanley, Douglas, Donald, Thomas and Robert, and a stepson, Steve Canty.
Surviving are his wife Crystal Lorraine; daughters Dena Lynn Olden of Merritt Island, Fla., Delcia Elaine Ellis of Norfolk, Va., Yvette Monique Thompson (Walter) of Washington, D.C., Melanie Allen (Robert) of Howell, and stepdaughter Tracey Cassandra Calderon (Isaias) of Neptune; and his sisters Dorothy Taylor of Neptune, and Edna Mae Oglesby of Freehold; and his brother, Thomas of Long Branch.
He is also survived by his grandchildren, Frederick, Derrick, Ja’Mel and Dysheena Parrish, La’Tief Forbes, Isaias and Cameron Calderon, Stephanie and Kevin Markham, and Alim Canty; his mother-in-law Fannie B. Lindsey; his sister-in-law Carol Dixson; and a host of extended family members and friends
