Virgil Clyde Parkinson

Virgil Clyde Parkins

Born April 15, 1935, died February 21, 2021 at his home.

The youngest of 10 children born to Benjamin Parkins and Rosa Zoe Johnston Parkins. He was born and raised in Kansas but moved to Washington state as a young boy when his father decided to move there for work. He left school in the 8th grade to help make a living for his family.

He was a veteran of the Korean War. He served in the construction battalion near the end of the conflict, rebuilding roads and airstrips. After being honorably discharged from the military he came back to Washington and began working at Boeing Aircraft. It was at Boeing that he met his future wife, Johny Villines. After a whirlwind courtship of only two weeks, they were married in November 1957. Johny was nineteen and Virgil was twenty-two. They were married for almost 62 years, until Johny passed away in August 2019. They had one child, a daughter, Penny Lynn (Parkins) Prince. He also has three granddaughters, Rachelle Prince, Lyndsey (Prince) Mattox and Morgan Prince. Lyndsey’s husband, Adam Mattox, is his honorary “grandson”.

Virgil was a man of few words for most of his life, but his actions spoke louder than words. He diligently worked to provide for his family in every way he could. In 1968, after both his father and his father-in-law passed away within weeks of each other, he moved with his wife and daughter back to Arkansas to help care for his mother-in-law. For nearly the entire remainder of her life, he and Johny made sure she was well cared for and always had a home of her own right next to theirs. They moved frequently in their younger years, going from farm to farm, but Virgil’s skills as a carpenter and cabinet maker served them well. He made every home they lived in a much better home when they left it than what they started with. Besides farming each day, he also worked third shift at Campbell Soup in Fayetteville until his retirement.

The last few years of his life, Virgil developed a love for reading the word of God and for reading devotionals. He spent several hours each day reading his Bible and had read it completely through several times. This is even more remarkable because he found reading to be an exceedingly difficult task. His limited formal education did not slow him down though, he persevered and when he did anything, he did it with excellence.

Funeral Service will be held 10:00 AM Saturday, February 27th, 2021, at First Assembly Of God in Lincoln, Arkansas. Burial will be in the Bethesda Cemetery in Morrow, Arkansas.

Online guest book, www.luginbuel.com.