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It is with great regret and sorrow that I must notify you of the death of our Classmate, Bob Parmele on 9
November 2021, in Woodinville, WA from a sudden heart attack.
Bob leaves no survivors. He was predeceased by his wife, Cheryl.
Bob will be buried at East Bloomfield Cemetery, Bloomfield, NY
Well done, Bob. Be thou at peace.
Remembrances:
Class Memorial Pages\M-2 Bob Parmele.pdf
Obituaries:
Assembly/Taps Memorial Article:
HARMON R. PARMELE 1961
Cullum No. 23586-1961 | November
9, 2021 | Died in Woodinville,
WA
Interred in East Bloomfield Cemetery, NY
Harmon Robert “Bob” Parmele chose Field Artillery as his basic branch and met
his wife to be, Cheryl, on a blind date one month after he reported for the
Officer Basic Course at Fort Sill, OK. His goals had been to date as many
women as possible and to stay in the Army for 30 years. But, as he stated,
“Life doesn’t always go the way you plan it.” Bob and Cheryl were married
shortly after the basic course. Bob said, “I always felt Cheryl must have
thought I was a trustworthy choice because I was a West Pointer, an officer
and a gentleman.”
Cheryl’s first question was, “Do you like dogs?” As things turned out, Bob
and Cheryl had no children, so they were “dog parents,” having four
generations of Springer Spaniels. Bob said that he and Cheryl “had pretty
much looked after each other, and the dogs, over all these years” and that
“Cheryl has been the best partner I could have ever asked for.”
Bob’s first major assignment was the repair and replacement of missiles and
equipment that had suffered major damage in the 1964 Alaskan earthquake.
Apparently, Bob’s time in the Rocket Society at the Academy had given him a
special desire for engineering and designing high-tech equipment. He enjoyed
the creativity of the work and explored ways to move into a career path in
the Army that was more engineering based. Having no luck, he decided to
leave the service and work in the private sector. His career then became
focused on engineering, manufacturing, and industrial design. He worked for
companies such as Eastman Kodak, IBM and AeroGo Corp. After earning his MBA
from Southern Illinois University in 1977, he managed engineering and
manufacturing operations at Tally Corp, Korry Electronics and SMC Corp, to
name a few.
Throughout his career, Bob was involved in the production of everything from
cameras to mountaineering equipment. While managing Washington’s Prison
Industries Program, his workforce consisted of 500-600 convicted felons. In
his spare time, he became a pretty good cabinet maker, which was his major
activity in later life.
Bob Parmele was a kind man and a true friend. Beginning in Beast Barracks
and lasting all plebe year, Bob was a “port in the storm” for many of his
friends, helping them withstand the demands of the Plebe System. Being
raised on a farm in East Bloomfield, NY, he developed those hometown values
of honesty, hard work and concern for others. Throughout plebe year he was
always smart enough to fly outside the critical eyes of upperclassmen and
retained his composure in every situation. When his roommates returned to
the room after a long day of harassment, he was always there with a
listening ear, able to brighten their spirits with hometown wisdom and help
prepare them for battle the next day.
Bob came to West Point with high school experience as a soccer player. He
played all four years at the Academy. He was not a standout on the field,
but he was a team player in every respect and was especially proud of his
monogram cow year. A starting member of the Soccer Team was quoted as
saying, “I considered him one of my best friends on the field as well as
off. He was so much fun during our scrimmages because he was always full
steam ahead. Since he was a big guy, it always behooved me to play around
him and never go through him. If I did the latter, I paid the price.”
Bob had an inquisitive mind, always searching for greater understanding of
advancements in technology. As cadet-in-charge of the Rocket Society, he set
the example by building and helping other cadet members build and test model
rockets. The Rocket Society was fortunate in those days to take very
attractive trips away from the Academy, often to test ranges like Cape
Canaveral, FL. On one occasion, Bob enabled his friends to become members of
the society for the sole purpose of traveling to Patrick Air Force Base, FL
to meet their girlfriends and spend time on the beach.
Bob always had a yearning for the outdoors. As a cadet he was a member of
the Outdoor Sportsman Club, where “hunters and archers aided in reservation
game control while the anglers fished all waters of the reservation.” Bob
was also in the Ski Patrol, for which he often rescued classmates who were
novice skiers (usually from the South) who thought they didn’t need
lessons.
After retirement, Bob and Cheryl bought two wooded acres in the Cascade
foothills east of Seattle. There he had the opportunity to concentrate on a
lifelong dream of spending more time outdoors, camping and fishing, all to
his heart’s delight.
Bob was quoted as saying that he had always kept a framed photo mounted
above his desk showing M-2 classmates seated on the steps of the M-2
barracks. He said, “To me, they are the Military Academy.”
As a testimony to his bonds of friendship with West Point classmates, Bob
was quick to write an article for the 50th class reunion book about his
First Class roommate, Roland Navarro, killed in a traffic accident on his
honeymoon after graduation in 1961. Here he was quoted as saying, “After 49
years, I think of him often.”
— Mike
Hale and classmates
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