Neal Parsell, born Dec. 22, 1936 at Kooskia, died Sunday, June 24, 2018, at Clarkston.
Parsell, son of Elmer and Marcella Kraemer Parsell, graduated from Clearwater Valley High School in 1954.
He spent the following 22 years in and out of Idaho County. Besides working for local newspapers and sawmills and the Forest Service, Parsell graduated from the University of Idaho, was a sergeant in the U.S. Army, a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal, and a staff assistant to Sen. Frank Church in Washington, D.C. He also was married and divorced during that time.
Parsell spent the next 20 years as a permanent employee of the Nez Perce National Forest, taking on a variety of jobs. He was at various times a firefighter, a construction and maintenance worker, a writer/
editor, a historian and an environmental paralegal. During that time, he lived on the Selway River, in Grangeville and in Kooskia.
After he retired from the Forest Service at the end of 1995, Parsell served for two years as Kooskia city clerk/treasurer. He moved to Asotin County in 2003.
Local survivors include a sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Steve Pankey of Kooskia; and a niece, Julie Pankey Mamula of Kamiah.
At his request, no funeral service is planned.
