‘He has flown away from us’: Northern flying legend Rocky Parsons dies at 92 – CBC News Aug 1, 2019
As readers, fans and friends our hearts go out to Catherine, her mother Mary and sisters Beth and Gwen on the passing of Catherine’s father, legendary flyer Brock ‘Rocky’ Parsons in Yellowknife on Tuesday July 30, 2019 at the age of 92. The following article – “He has flown away from us” by was posted on the CBC website on August 1, 2019.
– Glen Smith, Webmaster
· CBC News ·
A northern flying legend, whose adventures included flying a Twin Otter to the North Pole three times, has died at the age of 92.
Brock “Rocky” Parsons died Tuesday, according to an obituary on the McKenna Funeral Home website.
“He has flown away from us, but he will be forever in our hearts,” reads the obituary.
Parsons, born in 1926, was a long-time northerner and a well-known bush pilot. In 2015 he spoke with CBC during the 50th anniversary of the Twin Otter plane, an aircraft he was very familiar with.
The Twin Otter sank and was never recovered.
One of Parsons aviation adventures was retold in the children’s book Baseball Bats for Christmas.
It tells the story of Parsons bringing Christmas trees to children in Repulse Bay (now Naujaat), Nunavut in 1955, “much to the delight of the kids who have never before seen a tree” according to author Michael Kusugak’s website.
The children, unsure what to do with the trees, decide the strange things Parsons delivered must be for making baseball bats.
