by Ron Johnston
Dr. Greg Parnell is an Arkansas Razorbacks fan, now.
Back in the early 1960s over at the corner of Riga Mumford and Bridgeman Roads in the Churchville area, he enjoyed baseball and rooted for…well, any team but the New York Yankees.
Greg, younger brother Duncan, cousin Freddie Church, and several other neighborhood kids played many a sandlot game under a scorching, hot summer sun in a vacant side-yard field by the George and Mary Parnell home, about a 10-minute bicycle ride from Riga Center.
At lunchtime, Mary Parnell served peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to the youngsters.
Sometimes, if the sandlot ballplayers wanted to take a break, they’d play Monopoly or do some exploring and hiking in the bush and “wilderness” behind the house. There was even a small creek to splash around in.
In 1962, after Greg completed his eighth-grade year at the Churchville Junior High (formerly the high school), he moved with his family out of the district. He attended Avon but finished and graduated at Caledonia-Mumford Central in 1966.
An honor student all through his prep school and college years, Greg attended the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he majored in aerospace engineering and was a member of Tau Beta Pi.
After earning his B.A., Greg continued his education and over the years received degrees from the University of Florida, University of Southern California, and Stanford. He also served his country for 25 years and is a retired Air Force Colonel and graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
Greg has been the recipient of many awards during his lifetime and is a professor emeritus at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Almost a decade ago, Greg started a new job at the University of Arkansas.
Last year, Greg and his bride Eileen Schroeder Parnell – who studied at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska – celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary in Honolulu, Hawaii. Greg, an avid golfer, was able to play on the links at Makani Golf Club in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
Several years ago, Greg, a devoted family man, donated one of his kidneys to his daughter Christine.
Currently a resident of Fayetteville, Arkansas, 75-year-old Greg recently returned to New York State to visit West Point.
Ron Johnston, Churchville-Chili Class of 1966, is the author of One-Game Wonder: A Hoops Memory and Compilation.
