Amy Janell (Schiess) Parnell

Amy was preceded in death by her father William H. Schiess and grandparents James and Kathleen Long.

Amy leaves behind to cherish her memory her loving husband of 32 years Brad Parnell, mother Patricia Schrode, siblings Julie Wernert (Eric) and Christopher Schiess, sister-in-law Monica Meredith (Keith), brother-in-laws Clinton Parnell (Eula) and Denny Parnell (Dianne), uncle Greg Long (Lindy), nieces Blake Clark (Travis), Carrie Moore (Tim), Allyson Parnell (Zach Phelps), Lissa Borges (Renato), nephews Nicolas Wernert, Matthew Wernert, Andrew Meredith (Chelsea) and Adam Meredith (Carolyn) and many great nieces and nephews.

A service to honor the life of Amy will be held Wednesday, August 18th at 2pm in the chapel of Arch L. Heady at Resthaven Funeral Home with burial to follow in Resthaven Memorial Park. Visitation will begin Wednesday at 11am until the start of the funeral.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.archlheadyresthaven.com for the Parnell family.

From her husband:

Amy Janell Scheiss Parnell was born a middle child in Louisville, KY, on April 10th, 1967. I make a point of her birth order as she felt that was a very important part of her identity. She often related to Jan Brady and even called herself a Jan on many occasions. She sometimes felt overlooked because of this with the natural need to compete with her older and younger siblings for attention. She may have felt that way, but she was no less loved, and in some ways became the glue trying to hold things together.

She was fiercely independent and yet had issues with self-esteem which are not unfamiliar middle child traits. Her self-esteem issues led to an unfortunate long period of self isolation which she regretted and was on course to rectify. Those who need to know why she kept to herself so much know, and for those who don't, just understand it was something she was working on and wanted so badly to change. Whenever I was down on myself, which has been often the last couple of years, she would always remind me of how so many people loved and cared about me. I explained that she too was well loved and cared for and that number would have been far greater if she had let more people get to know her. It was always sad to me that I had to convince her that she was well loved by many. The overwhelming amount of outpouring I have seen on social media is further proof of this.

Knowing Amy was loving Amy. I don't know anyone that knew her well that didn't think a lot of her. The word that comes up most when people describe her is sweet, and I couldn't agree more. She was a very caring person. She had a special heart for animals, especially the three cats that were our fur babies. I can't remember a winter that went by where she didn't at least once, if not several times, worry about the strays that were outside on those coldest of days when people were warned about staying outside too long. Amy would want to give to every hard luck case of animals that we heard about. We certainly weren't able to give to all or even half of them, but she found a way to give even when we didn't have much. She always had a list of people to help out should we ever come into a large sum of money. The list changed over time based on people's needs as she was always concerned for others. Even in the hospital knowing what dire straits we might be facing, she gave to charity when a good friend asked.

Many times she would make a point to complain to fast food places or other businesses when they made a mess of our order but she told me time and again if she was going to do that it was important to also make sure to praise them when they went above and beyond which she also did many times. She wanted to make sure people knew they were respected and admired for doing a good job and at both her hospital stays she was trying to remember all the nurses that took such good care of her. She had wanted to send them something to show them her appreciation. Even in a place where her care wasn't the best she still had some people that she was wanting to make notes of to thank later. It was one of the very last things she wrote on her laptop.

She always loved to share. I knew it made her feel good. Whether it was some music she wanted me to hear or some food she wanted me to try, she would share often. She would even sometimes look a little disappointed if I didn't want what she was offering as it was that important to her.

She had started out in a career in nursing, having worked some at a hospital and also a nursing home. Her heart however was overcome by seeing people suffering, and in a few cases dying, which made her realize that nursing wasn't for her. Little did we know that she would call on those skills again years later to help out my mother during her long battle with dementia. We had hoped that would help start the change to get her back out in the world but unfortunately that sacrifice only led to more health issues instead.

She had worked a few other jobs before becoming a full time homemaker. I don't know that she'd necessarily care for that title, but wherever we lived she certainly was the one who made it feel like home. We fell into grooves with the roles that we had and one of hers was handling all our finances. She took care of all the banking, bill paying, and even took care of our taxes. It was here she really did well managing to take us from a couple in deep debt, to living paycheck to paycheck on one income, to finally getting to the point where we even had enough saved up for a down payment on a house. She would make money from time to time selling items she made or online surveys and such. She always made sure to use that money to buy me birthday presents because she was so independent. We became quite dependent on one another despite her fierce independence.

That fierceness showed up in her opinions as well. She had no problem speaking her mind and letting those opinions be known which fit in perfectly with so many of the women in my family. Had she not been so shy in public spaces I could easily see her having a turn in some of the family discussions that went on during reunions. Her shyness in public was like night and day compared to the Amy I knew in private. Anyone close enough to her to have long conversations with her understands.

While we were dating and in the early days of our marriage she was great about writing sweet notes to me. She would write words of encouragement during the down times and try to lift me up. She would write notes that showed me how much she cared, not that I could ever doubt it. Sometimes I'd even find notes in my lunch at work which was always nice. As I was searching through our pictures and memories we kept, I found some. One was from high school as she was a senior when I started dating her. She told me she was doing homework and waiting for a friend to pick her up. In it she wrote, "Guess what? I Love You!!! But... I hate Hamlet!" I couldn't believe how many of these notes and cards we made for each other that we've kept all these years. There was even a coupon book she made as a gift with all the usual things you'd think of, foot massages, certain dinners, etc. and even one coupon for watching a UofL game with me all the way through (snacks included)!

Amy loved making things. Whether it was something for me, family members, friends, or even to sell, she put her heart, and lots of talent, into whatever she made. She was very creative and made lots of jewelry out of clay and beads as well as figurines and other things. One of the more detailed items she made was a Christmas ornament for my mother that showed her on a flying carpet reading to all her grandchildren. She even made little figurines of some of the cartoon characters I created. She had a really good eye for design and loved to decorate our apartment. I imagine she would have redecorated it every year if she could have. Amy enjoyed sewing as well, and made a stuffed animal from scratch of one of my other cartoon creations. She was very supportive of me in that way. I don't know of anyone more encouraging or supportive.

She had a great love for music which was a passion we shared. In fact it was our mutual love of the Beatles that was the ice breaker that got us talking when we first met. She got caught up in the mania that each generation of young girls do with some of her closest friends. I can remember her telling me how they made plans to get in to the hotel where Culture Club was staying, so much like some of the Beatles fans we had heard about.

In high school she played flute in band where she made a lot of friends. Later she sold that flute to put a down payment on a fiddle style bass for me similar to the one my musical idol, Paul McCartney, had played. It was at that time though that I had explained to her I was going to focus on commercial art to get a job so that we could get married, so even though we never got that bass I never forgot that selfless act that meant so much to me. Years later she would buy me a ukulele with which has become so much a part of me you'd think it was attached. It fills me with joy to play it, not just because of what the music does for me, but because she decided to surprise me with it as a gift.

Music was always important to her. She always loved listening to her favorite songs over and over. You could tell they filled her with joy and you could tell how passionate she was about some of the artists. Besides the Beatles she knew all about Buddy Holly & the Crickets and Chicago and could tell you about all the members of the groups. We shared an ecelctic taste in music and you could see this in so many of the artists she loved such as Vince Guaraldi, The Bee Gees, Henry Mancini, Matreca Berg, Amy Grant, Rush, The Monkees, and Led Zeppelin. One of her favorites was the Left Banke, a group many might think a one or two hit wonder but she knew all their catalog and all about the members. The lead singer, Steve Martin-Caro, was of special interest to her as she always said he had such an angelic voice. He was most likely her favorite singer and she always filled me in on what a tragic life he led. His death last year left her in tears.

Now her death leaves me in tears. Tears that may never completely subside. I will miss her every day. I will miss her smile, her laughter, her joy, and her sadness. I will miss her telling me to be safe every single time I went somewhere. I will miss her telling me to make sure the front door was locked. I will miss her saying "Oh you look so cute with your little hair cut" after I'd get home from the barber shop. I will very much miss her warm hugs. I will miss the way she could aggravate me over the least important things. I'll miss the way she could comfort me over the most important things. I will miss her excitement and the way she could get so easily tickled by the most mundane things. I will miss having a partner that doesn't have to say I love you to let you know you're loved. It was in all the things she did. She of course said it often anyway. We both did. I can't imagine loving or being loved by someone as wonderful as Amy ever again.

She was taken so tragically from us as she had just made a major turning point in her life. Had she not been taken away, and gained back much of the health she had lost, she had intended on reaching out to many people in her life that she had lost contact with. I had always seen a light in Amy though it had been dimmed over time by health issues and the wear and tear of the world in which we live. However, in the last few weeks, having her life nearly come to an end and then brought back, she really let that light shine again. It shined brighter than before and she told me how it felt to have that change within her. I was so happy for her. I find some solace that at least before she took a turn for the worse that she felt this change. Even though her plans will not come to fruition in the way we hoped, I know what was in her heart, and what a wonderful, beautiful, irreplaceable heart it was.