KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City-area first responders, family and friends gathered in numbers Friday morning to honor the life and sacrifice of Capt. John Parison III. He was with the Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department for over 20 years.
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Parison recently passed away after a short battle with stage 4 colon cancer. After further review, it was determined this week that the captain's passing was a line-of-duty death.
A visitation was held Friday morning at the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church followed by a procession. The route ultimately ended at the captain’s final resting place, Park Lawn Cemetery.
“Different cancers have anywhere up to 300% increase just for (firefighters) due to the carcinogens we face everyday and house fires and the different chemicals we encounter,” said KCFD firefighter James Moran. “This job has not gotten any easier, and it’s been a struggle a lot of days, but he came to work everyday with a smile on his face.”
Moran calls Parison his mentor. He said one of the most special things about him was his ability to look past people’s veils. His care for others showed in the way he spoke and the way he treated others.
“He could really see through what you were going through and get down to the core and address your issues, whether that be mental health, which you know runs rampant in first responders, or just training on the job,” said Moran. “I absolutely loved working with him and especially his cooking — his fried chicken was second to none."
To commemorate his years of dedication to the department and his people, Parison was promoted last week during a heartfelt ceremony in the Intensive Care Unit. There, he also pinned his own son, John Parison IV, who will graduate this month as a third-generation firefighter.
“His father, he was on the fire department. Johnny’s on the fire department, and now his son. Three generations, that’s, I’m proud of that,” said Parison's lifelong friend, Brian Williams.
Williams entered the academy with Parison in 2002. He says they helped each other out a lot, because one had the brains and the other had brawn.
“He was smart so I was able to pass the EMT test. He was able to pass his physical fitness. And after academy, the both of us, we went to the same station,” said Williams.
Together they witnessed many milestones in life — children, retirement and new career endeavors. Williams wants people to know that his friend was always positive, even through his last days.
“It was emotional for me, to see my friend in that way. He was not just a friend, he was a fire department friend. And to me, he was a brother in Christ,” said Williams.
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