On Losing A Good Bird Named Gerry Parcells

The last time we Early Birds met for breakfast at the Inglewood Golf and Curling Club, we knew what to expect when we arrived. It was always thus:

The ‘early, Early Birds’ would flock together along the right wing of our table set-up. And then, sometime between 7:20 and 7:30, Gerry Parcells would arrive, providing balance and sway to the left wing. How he did this without raising his voice, we will now, never know. 

He could mutter the word “saw-sages” under his breath, and we’d lean in. Because we knew - he knew - where to get the best sausages: usually in one of the better hotels on the “wet” coast.

He often indulged in the manly art of car talk. He could make driving to Phoenix for a car wash sound like ‘just a thing people do’. Oh, he’d add, he did check out a ’55 Chevy … but it was overpriced. So he and Gail made their annual deposit in Vegas and came home. 

Speaking of vintage Chevies, we recall him being anxious about Banff’s weather in October of 2012: after all, one of his about-to-be-married daughters deserved a ‘proper’ car ride from church to reception. He spoke often of driving (and flying) for family. More than once, he dropped in for breakfast on his way to Saskatoon to catch a Blades game.

Who other than Gerry Parcells would humbly report that “their Christmas turkey was just devastated”? It happened in 2013, when he and Gail had 39 family members for dinner. Indeed, for a while, it seemed that Gerry was just coming for breakfast to announce the birth of yet another grandchild.

For decades, Gerry helped make sure we Birds could keep in touch with each other, by printing our club roster. He helped make our club’s ‘cream mogul’ famous, by putting George’s face on George’s Cream. And he would politely say he doesn’t really want a Eulogy … but if we’re determined, at least make the audience chuckle. 

We all have a favourite memory of Gerry. Like when he mentioned that he controls ‘the Nest’ at his home … and that he doesn’t do it by iPhone, either.

- The Calgary Early Birds.