Howard T. Parsons Jr.

Howard T. Parsons, Jr., 68, of Charlottesville, died October 4, 2020, following an extended illness. Born January 30, 1952, Howard was the oldest son of Howard T. Parsons and Lucille T. Parsons of Hopewell, Va. He graduated from Hopewell High School in 1970, and majored in Biology at North Carolina Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount. It was there that he met fellow student and future wife Judith Lyn Vilagos, who survives him after almost a half-century of mutual love and devotion. Entering the information technology field after graduation, Howard worked in Richmond and Atlanta before coming to Charlottesville in 1982 to join Michie Publishing Co., now LexisNexis, as a programmer, later becoming a senior systems analyst. After 2008, he worked as an independent consultant while writing the Young Adult fiction series “Tales from Colony Island,” about mermaids who live with and interact with humans. The first book was published 2015, with a second anticipated for release in Spring 2021. An avid reader and connoisseur of pipes and Scotch whiskey, Howard’s interests ran the gamut from classic trains and new technology to Scottish culture and history. He served as U.S. branch president of Clan Grant, and was an active member of Clan McPherson and the St. Andrew’s Society of Baltimore. He also served a term as Commander of the Veterans of the 290th Combat Engineers, a World War II veterans group his father co-founded in the 1950s. Howard was also a Mason, and a member of Kena Temple Shrine. He was also an avid canoeist and hiker, and helped perform maintenance work on the Appalachian Trail. In addition to his wife of 45 years, Howard is survived by a brother, James T. Parsons of Bristow, Va., and two cats, the latest in a long succession of beloved feline companions. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to N.C. Wesleyan College general scholarship fund, your local SPCA or rescue facility, or food bank.