Lance Cpl. David Parr honored for life, death

Published Feb. 15, 2006
By Jim Carney and Julie Wallace
Beacon Journal staff writer

Marine Lance Cpl. David Shaun Parr made an impression on people.

``He affected people with his love,'' the Rev. Mark Scotton of St. Luke's Church in Fairlawn said at Parr's funeral.

Parr, 22, was killed in Iraq on Feb. 6, 2006, in a roadside bombing. He had joined the Marines in 2004 and had been in Iraq since the fall.

Parr attended Highland Park Elementary School in Akron, Highland Middle School and Barberton High School before moving to North Carolina in his junior year in 2000.

Scotton said ``we need to be covering'' in prayer men and women who are serving America. ``There are many still serving there.''

Parr volunteered for the Marines to serve his country, Scotton said.

``No one forced him, no one twisted his arm,'' he said. ``Daily, young men and women die to protect our freedom, and we pray for them.''

Scotton said people need ``to do what we need to do to cover them and pray the Lord will bring them home.''

Parr, he said, ``knew the Lord. . . . He chose Jesus.''

Several members of the Patriot Guard Riders and American Legion Riders, groups that pay respects to Marines, soldiers and military personnel, drove motorcycles in the funeral procession to the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery.

``We're just patriotic citizens doing what's right,'' said Bob ``Tater'' Smith, 51, an Air Force Vietnam veteran and Ohio captain of the organization.

At Seville and Rawiga roads, near the cemetery, a man holding a small American flag stood alone in tribute to the fallen Marine.

At the cemetery, the procession was greeted by a contingent of gray-haired veterans, many of whom stood at attention as the flag-covered casket was removed from the hearse.

``Ain't it a shame, these young kids,'' one veteran said. ``It has to be done, but what a waste.''

In the vast cemetery, with row after row of gray granite tombstones, a silence settled as Parr's casket was carried to a stone pavilion for the service. Even children -- including Parr's little sister, who was busy burying her black patent-leather shoes in piles of snow -- grew quiet.

After a brief service, a lone Marine played taps, and seven Marines standing on a hill overlooking the pavilion fired three shots each.

And then the six Marines who had stood watch over Parr's casket folded the flag, carefully tucking in each end with white-gloved hands. Flags were delivered to Parr's mother and father, who were seated across the front row of chairs.

Parr's family was presented with a Purple Heart in a ceremony at the church.

At the conclusion of the cemetery service, the older veterans went to a second pavilion to honor yet another veteran.

Parr is survived by mother and stepfather Diana and Richard Pasquinelli of Benson, N.C.; father David L. Parr of Akron; grandparents Patricia and Gary Meredith of Copley, Audrey Parr of Akron, and Richard and Judith Pasquinelli of Cranberry, Pa.; sisters Misty Curley of Akron, Aarika and Veronica Catete of Benson, N.C., and Hannah Pasquinelli of Benson, N.C.; and many other relatives.