John Parr

John David Parr was born March 6, 1937, in San Antonio, Texas to Gladys and Newton Parr. The family moved to a farm outside of Robstown. Following high school graduation, John attended the University of Texas in Austin where he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. He belonged to Theta Zi fraternity. He began his career in Corpus Christi where he worked on IBM 1401 computers. On August 30, 1961 he married Sylvia Ann Langford of Lampasas. They lived in Corpus Christi for 3 years where Sylvia taught math at Ray High School. Receiving a scholarship, they both returned to the University to work on Masters Degrees after which they received job offers in Houston and lived there for a year and a half before moving to Palo Alto in Northern California where they both worked on designing operating systems and secure networks for Univac, Control Data, and Lockheed. Retiring after 30 years, the Parrs began an adventurous life pursuing their passion for sailing and the sea. They sailed from San Francisco to Mexico on their sailboat, Sonrisa. Following two years in Mexico and a year in San Diego, they set sail for the South Pacific and New Zealand. Their next venture was sailing up the East coast of the US. Returning to San Diego, they made one more trip to Mexico before docking Sonrisa in San Diego where they bought a house and began retirement as land lubbers. They were members of Pacific Beach Disciples of Christ church where both served as deacons. John suffered a stroke on June 18th at home and was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital where following a series of strokes, he passed away on June 30, 2016. John is survived by his wife, Sylvia, daughter, Anne Michelle Parr, son Michael Scott Parr of California, grandchildren, Lexi and Luke Parr of McKinney, brother Bill (Clorice) Parr, sister Virginia (Billy Joe) Ordner, an aunt, and several nieces and nephews. Funeral service for will be Friday, July 8, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. at Sneed Funeral Chapel. Burial will follow at Smith Cemetery at School Creek. Sneed Funeral Chapel in charge of arrangements