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30 The Nevada Traverse Vol.51, No.3, 2024NALS Says Our Final Goodbyes to John (Steve) Parrish Steve%u2019s Obituary Steve passed away on Oct. 2, 2023, at his home in Idaho Falls, ID of pancreatic cancer. Steve was born Aug. 16, 1944, in Ogden, UT to John Spencer and FaDora Parrish. They had four children: Terrance, Steve, Christy, and Cindy.Steve graduated from Bonneville High School in Ogden on May 24, 1962. He started college as a premed student at Weber State College and worked as a summer employee for the U.S. Forest Service. During those summers doing land survey work and being in the mountains, he fell in love with surveying. He quit college and became a full-time employee of the USFS in 1966.Steve met his wife of 58 years, Gloria Hillier, in 1963. They both worked at St. Benedicts Hospital in Ogden, UT and attended Weber State College where they were students in a Marriage and Family Living class. Steve and Gloria were married Nov. 11, 1965, in the Idaho Falls Latter Day Saints Temple. Steve and Gloria had four sons: Jon Michael, Jamey Lynn, Robert Louis, and Curtis Reed.Steve was a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He held many positions in the church with teaching classes being his favorite. He and Gloria taught classes in the Church Primary Organization together. Steve also loved the Boy Scout Program, especially the cub scouts where he served as a pack leader.Steve, Gloria, Mike and Curt helped Rob earn his Eagle Badge by erecting goose nests on the Salmon River in Salmon, ID. Steve helped Curt earn his Eagle Badge by taking him and other boy scouts to a beach at Lake Tahoe, NV to clean up the garbage along the banks of the Lake.While living in Albuquerque, NM, Mike was chosen to represent the state of New Mexico in a student exchange program with Germany. Mike spent his senior year of high school in Berlin, Germany.Steve loved fishing and hunting, especially with family and friends. He loved being in the outdoors, climbing mountains, hiking, and taking photographs. He and Gloria spent two weeks in Alaska fishing to celebrate his 50th birthday.In 2006 Steve and Gloria had the opportunity to become the legal guardians of their three-year-old granddaughter Aryelle Rose Hope Parrish. Aryelle was homeschooled which gave her the opportunity to travel with them as Steve presented workshops and spoke at surveying conventions in several states. They spent two summers in Jamestown, ND while Steve did survey work for a private surveying company. They moved from Reno, NV to Idaho Falls, ID in the fall of 2021for Aryelle to attend classes at the College of Eastern Idaho. Aryelle filled their home with piano, voice, guitar, and ocarina music.Steve spent sixty years of his life working as a land surveyor. During that time, he moved his family from Ogden, UT to Twin Falls, ID, to Sandpoint, ID, back to Odgen, UT, to Salmon, ID, to Albuquerque, NM, to Carson Cit, NV, and then to Reno, NV. Steve worked with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) from 1963 until 1985 when he transferred to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and was selected as BLM Nevada Cadastral Chief in 1989. Steve left the government in 1995 to survey in the private sector.Steve was a licensed land surveyor in ten states, a Nevada water rights surveyor, and acquired his CFeds certificate (Certified Federal Surveyor) in 2007. He graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science Management in Technology degree in 2009 from Great Basin College in Elko, NV. He also taught SUR360 BLM Manual for Great Basin College. Steve served as a CFeds Panel Chairperson/Training Coordinator and taught CFEDS classes. Steve recorded over eighteen hours of online continuing education courses for the Western Federation of Professional Surveyors in the fall of 2023. He was the County Surveyor for Alpine and Mono Counties, CA. He presented workshops and was a speaker at land surveyor conferences in twenty-seven States, Canada, and Australia.Steve spent countless hours giving back to the land surveying profession. His support and willingness to speak at conferences and workshops has benefited every land surveyor who had the opportunity to attend one of his presentations. Steve especially supported the young surveyors, technicians and land surveying students. He never missed the opportunity to mentor anyone willing to learn.