Murray Alphonse Parrish

Murray Parrish (Age 89) Murray A. Parrish of Culpeper, VA, passed away on January 28, 2021. The ninth of 10 children, he was born in Johnston County, NC and lived his early years in Selma, NC. He moved to VA in 1951, where he met his future wife, Martha Belle Phillips in Annandale, and where he started his career as a plumbing and HVAC apprentice. With a combination of dedication, skilled hands and a mechanical aptitude, he rose through numerous leadership positions at F.W. Harris, Inc., ultimately leading the company’s efforts on numerous large construction projects in northern VA. In the early 1980s, he became president and principal owner of the company before retiring in 1989. An outstanding baseball player as a young man, he made the transition to fast pitch softball in the 1960s, playing shortstop for some of the finest teams in the Washington metropolitan area. He later moved on to slow pitch softball, where as a member of a “senior team,” he played for a national champion. A dedicated husband and father, he was also a committed Christian, having placed his faith in Jesus Christ soon after moving to VA. His commitment to his faith and his family never wavered. He and Martha, married for 68 years, raised their family in Vienna, where he coached youth sports for a number of years. They moved to Culpeper in 1992. His years in Culpeper were spent pursuing his lifetime love of gardening and enjoying retirement in the company of his many friends. He is survived by Martha, two sons, David L. and Darryl L. Parrish, 10 grandchildren and five great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Deborah Lynn Parrish, in 2020. He will be buried at Hillcrest Memory Gardens in Jeffersonton.