Full Name

Oliver Parson

Role

Artist

Date of Death

2013

Place of Death

* Untyped Place of Death

Idaho

Biographical Information

Biography

Born December 24, 1916. Parson received his bachelor of arts from the University of Utah, shortly after he began teaching junior high school in the Salt Lake School District. Later, Parson would complete his Master's degree at Weber State University and further postgraduate studies at the University of Colorado. Parson married Myra Barker in 1940 in Salt Lake City, Utah. They had nine children together. In 1954 Parson moved to Rexburg with his family and helped create an art department for Ricks College (BYU-Idaho). For the next 25 years Parson taught at the college and for 19 of those years he was the department chair and only professor in the art department. Parson painted in oil, watercolor, and pastel. His children learned to appreciate the arts from their father and became prolific in their own artistic endeavors. Though Parson's work covers a variety of subject matter, his primary focus was on nature and landscapes.