Alice Marie Parrish

Alice Marie Parrish left her home on earth on March 14, 2022, to go and live eternally with Jesus Christ, her savior, in Heaven. Alice was born August 9, 1931, in Bedford, Indiana, and soon afterward moved to Florida, where she grew up and attended Hillsborough Senior High School in Tampa.

Alice was an accomplished pianist and served as an organist for several churches. She met the love of her life, Mickey Parrish, and married him on April 24, 1954. One of her proudest accomplishments was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with Mickey in 1971. It was the beginning of their love affair with Africa and the impetus of their mission work there.

In 1976 Mickey and Alice formed the Christian Light Foundation. Shortly after that, they moved to Kenya where they attended Swahili language school and traveled throughout Kenya and Uganda supporting CLF’s prison ministries. Alice especially liked Kampala, Uganda, saying it was the most beautiful city she had seen. She perpetually wanted to travel and went all over the world, not just to Africa, but to Europe, Russia, Ukraine, and the Philippines.

Alice loved animals, she even brought her beloved dog, Pedro, back to the States when returning from Africa, a challenging feat for that trip at the time. Alice’s final dog, Angel, saw her through the loss of two children and her husband, becoming her world. They did everything together.

Alice was predeceased by her father and mother, also by her husband, Mickey Parrish, her brother, Robert Dale Litten, and two of her daughters, Sherry (Barber) Gaskins, and Catherine (Barber) Tomlinson. She leaves behind three children, Linda (Barber) Adams (Bill), Cynthia (Barber) Harris, and Robert Barber (Eileen), along with six grandchildren, Jennifer Simmons, Joanna Kryceski, Victoria Lombardo, Kelda Adams, Rob Barber, and Amanda Barber, and four great-grandchildren.

A celebration of life will be held on April 1, 2022, at 11:00 am at First Baptist Church Downtown Jacksonville in the Lindsay Main Auditorium. Graveside service will follow at 1:00 pm at Hardage-Giddens Oaklawn Cemetery.