Rev. David Thomas Parrish

WADESBORO – On Friday, January 3, 2025, Rev. David Thomas Parrish, 64, passed away peacefully at Atrium Cabarrus in Concord to be with his Lord and Savior. 

 Funeral services will be 3:00 PM, Wednesday, January 8, 2025, in the Chapel of Leavitt Funeral Home with Rev. Ricky Marsh, Rev. Johnny Johnson and Rev. Charles Tyler officiating. 

 The family will greet friends one hour prior to the service on Wednesday at the funeral home and other times at the home. 

 David was born in Scotland County, NC on December 16, 1960, and was a son of the late Rev. Dr. Thomas Maynard Parrish and the late Mary Elizabeth Curtis Parrish. He was a graduate of Anson High School and Blue Mountain Christian University where he received a bachelor’s degree and also attended Free Will Baptist Bible College. He also served in the North Carolina National Guard. 

 He taught Social Studies with Anson County Schools at Anson Middle School and Anson High School. 

 Ordained into gospel ministry through the Free Will Baptist Church, he pastored New Life Free Will Baptist Church in Mississippi, Elwood Lane Free Will Baptist Church in Kannapolis, Bethany Free Will Baptist Church in Greenville, Bethany Free Will Baptist Church in Wadesboro and currently New Hope Free Will Baptist Church in Rockingham. 

 He enjoyed time shared with his family and especially his grandchildren. He was an avid fisherman and looked forward to fishing trips with his family and friends. An excellent cook, he was well-known for making Barbeque, banana puddings and smoking meats for the residents at Meadowview Terrace. 

 He was also an avid sports fan, enjoyed baseball, softball, watching wrestling, Atlanta Braves and the Tarheels. 

 Those who are left to cherish his memory are his wife, Betty Kester Parrish; his children, Matthew Parrish and wife, Lauren and Stephanie Kepley and husband, Dillon all of Pontotoc, MS; his stepdaughter, Tori  Kester of Rockingham; his grandchildren, Landon, Madison, and Molly Parrish and Mary Olivia and Kylie Kepley; his brother, Rev. Tony Parrish and wife, Kay of Greenville; his step-mother, Jennie Parrish of Chesterfield, SC and his sister-in-law and brothers-in-law, Shelley Lampley (Richard) of Hamlet and Stephen Smith (Fred Pratt) of Rockingham. 

 In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother, Bill Parrish and by his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Micky and Linda Smith.

  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to New Hope Free Will Baptist Church in Rockingham or to Bethany Free Will Baptist Church in Wadesboro.

  The arrangements are in care of Leavitt Funeral Home and online condolences may be made at www.leavittfh.com