John Wilfred Parkin

John Wilfred Parkin Passed away on Friday, December 18, 2015 with family present. He was 89 years old. John was born on February 23, 1926 to George and Ethel (Glennon) Parkin in Esmond, Rhode Island where he spent the first 18 years of his life. John attended high school at the LaSalle Academy in Providence, Rhode Island where he graduated in 1944. During his senior year in high school, at the age of 17, John was drafted for service in the United States Army. Following high school graduation and his initial military training, John deployed as an infantryman to Germany and France from 1944-1948 during World War II. During his time in Europe, his family moved from Rhode Island to Long Beach, California. After his service in the Army, John was honorably discharged at the rank of Technical Sergeant and came home to Long Beach where he began attending Long Beach City College. He married Helen Berrey in 1950, and together they moved to Berkeley, California where John attended the University of California. He graduated in 1952 from the School of Engineering and was employed as a Petroleum Engineer by the Signal Oil Company and the City of Long Beach for the majority of his working years. He also consulted for the Del Amo Energy Company until his retirement in 1986. John and Helen loved to travel, frequenting Europe, Mexico and the California Central Coast. John loved the outdoors and until the age of 80 continued to ski the Sierras and go deep-sea fishing for a trophy tuna. The stories told of the family vacations with their four children continue to bring uncontrollable laughter around the dinner table. John and Helen never missed an opportunity to visit their 12 grandchildren, no matter how far they had to go. He was loved very much, he was the family hero, and his examples of how to live a good life will never be forgotten. John was an active member of St. Matthew's Parish and the Bluff Park Neighborhood Assoc. He was adopted by the "Hood", enjoying many evenings on the porch with his neighbors. John is preceded in death by his wife Helen (2005) of 55 years and a brother George (1924). John is survived by his brother Robert (Donna) Parkin; daughter, Lisa (Mark) Sweet; sons, Dennis (Marie), Charlie (Terese) and Johnny (ChaCha) Parkin; grandchildren, Spencer (Megan) Sweet, Kelly (Scott) Haberman, Courtney (Ben) Scott, Matthew Sweet; Siodhbhra, Aoife and Saorise Parkin; Greg Parkin, Lauren (Ryan) Molinaro, Andrew (Hannah) Parkin; Caterina and Giovi Parkin; great granddaughter, Sophie Rose Molinaro and many nieces and nephews.