James A. Parsons

James “Jim” Alan Parsons, Merrill, formerly of Wausau, passed away peacefully on Friday, March 13, 2026 with his two favorite girls by his side, if we do say so ourselves.

Jim led a long life filled with service to our country, a construction worker, and a supervisor within the finishing room at Wausau Papers.

Jim was drafted into the U.S. Army, was stationed at Fort Knox and later at Fort Hood where he was one of the troops who made their way to Fort Stewart to be deployed to Cuba in 1962. Jim sat on a plane and was going to be one of the first to go in and build roads.

After the Army, Jim came back home, attended North Central Technical School and studied drafting, skills he later used to build his first home. Along the way Jim married Rosalie Blarek on May 21, 1960. They had two children, Scott Parsons and Vicki (George) Wilde. Jim was also a grandpa to Elizabeth (Austin) Leverity and Alan Parsons and a Bonus Grandpa to Allison (Chris) Lannigan, Marissa (Logan) Wilke and Morgan Wilde.

Jim loved puttering around the yard, riding his lawn tractor and being in his garage. He spent a great amount of time helping Scott bend pipe for his custom motorcycle business and generally chatting it up with the guys at the shop.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents, Grace and Elmer Parsons, brothers, David and Gordon (Patricia) Parsons, Rosalie who passed away in 2008 and Scott, his son who passed in 2018. Losing Scott was the hardest thing he could have experienced in his life, he was never the same after.

Jim was a quiet and gentle soul who will be deeply missed. He was a great father, grandpa, who was known for the world’s best chocolate chip pancakes.

Funeral Services will be held at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 19, 2026 at the Peterson/Kraemer Funeral Home, 1302 6th Street, Wausau. Burial will be in Maple Grove Cemetery, town of Maine. Visitation will be held on Thursday from 9:30 a.m. until the time of services all at the Sixth Street funeral home. Online condolences may be expressed at www.petersonkraemer.com

Our family would like to give special thanks to Abby who was part of his care team and Mackenzie, Alysa and Joanie from the hospice team who “fought” over who was Jims’s favorite “girlfriend”. Their care has truly been noticed and appreciated by the family. The family also would like to extend a sincere thank you to Dr. Ann Witmer at the VA for the exceptional care she gave to Jim as well.

Jim will be deeply missed by all.