Obituary: Billie Parsons

Funeral Services

Funeral services will take place on Wednesday, January 7, 2026 at 2:00 PM (Mountain).

Milesville Hall
Milesville, South Dakota

Interment

Milesville Cemetery
Milesville, South Dakota

Visitation

Visitation will be held 5-7 p.m. with a prayer service at 7 p.m. Tuesday, January 6, 2026 at the Milesville Hall.

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In memory of

Billie Parsons

of Milesville, South Dakota, died on Thursday, January 1, 2026 at his home in rural Milesville at the age of 90

Billie Don Parsons was born December 5th, 1935, the sixth of seven children born to William and Helen (Elshere) Parsons. He attended grade school at Hardingrove country school in Milesville and graduated from Philip High School in 1954.

August 18, 1956 he was united in marriage to Connie Mae Morgan. Story has it that he was parked in front of the theater in Philip one afternoon when Connie and her mother Laura Morgan walked out, he stopped them and asked Connie if she would like to attend the dance in Midland that evening. Her mother approved and that set in motion a relationship that resulted in a marriage that lasted 8 months and 18 days short of 70 years. To this union were born four children, Brad, Grant, Glenn and Marla.

He loved farming and ranching and though he had a broad range of interests, he never considered doing anything else. At the age of 14 he and his brothers assumed operation of the farm due to his father’s passing from a farm accident. He owned and operated several ranches before purchasing his current ranch on Plumb Creek in 1968. Feeding cattle was something he truly enjoyed, and you could set your watch by the time he started feeding in the mornings.

Billie was active in FFA (Future Farmers of America) until he aged out of the program at 21. At the national FFA convention in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1957, he was selected as the Regional Star Farmer for the central region of the US and congratulated by then President Harry Truman.

Family was very important to him and he had an impeccable memory of little things the kids or grandkids did or said. He marveled at their accomplishments and would recount them many times over.

Although his first love was farming and ranching, he had a creative bend, eventually securing five patents and two copy rights. These included, a hydraulic resistance exercise bike, a hydraulic resistance stair stepper, an exhaust heat shield for open air tractor mufflers, a portable protein block feeder for cattle and a grain drill mounted rod weeder that dramatically improved production and weed control in wheat. He and his son Brad even created and registered a board game called the “Pro Rodeo Game”, patterned after the rodeo circuit and national finals. Marketing was always elusive, but his heart was really on the ranch anyway.

It was well known that he had a rather significant dislike of computers, especially when they were part of a tractor; that he always had a “dinner napkin” in his pocket for a grease rag; that almost every conversation longer than five minutes incorporated a few political observations and being late was as close as you could get to a cardinal sin.

He loved the Lord Jesus Christ and wasn’t afraid to share the reason with others.

Billie is survived by his wife Connie and their four children, Brad (Wendy) Parsons of Visalia CA, Grant (Sandra) Parsons of Milesville, Glenn (Dianne) Parsons of Philip, and Marla (Kyle) Petersen of Dazey North Dakota; nine grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; two sisters Doris Berry of Philip and Leah (James) Waddell of Sioux Falls; sisters-in-law Joanne Parsons of Rapid City, and Janice Parsons of Milesville.

He was preceded in death by his parents; an infant son; grandson Kirk Parsons; three brothers Dean, Boyd, Bart; and one sister Mary Slovek.

Visitation will be held at the Milesville Hall from 5-7 Tuesday the 6th of January with a short service to follow.

Funeral services will be held at the Milesville Hall Wednesday the 7th of January at 2PM with internment at the Milesville cemetery following the service.

In lieu of flowers, a local memorial has been established.

VISITATION
Tuesday, January 6, 2026 - 5-7 p.m.
Milesville Hall
Milesville, South Dakota

PRAYER SERVICE
Tuesday, January 6, 2026 - 7:00 p.m.
Milesville Hall
Milesville, South Dakota

FUNERAL SERVICE
Wednesday, January 7, 2026 - 2:00 p.m.
Milesville Hall
Milesville, South Dakota

CLERGY
Pastor Gary Wahl
Pastor Fredrick Seaman

MUSIC
Duane Roseth - Guitarist
Roger Porch - Vocalist
“Amazing Grace”
“The Last Trail Ride”

USHERS
Paul Slovek - Jim Elshere
Bryan Olivier - Andy Elshere

PALLBEARERS
Morgan Parsons - Aaron Parsons
William Parsons - Seth Petersen
Preston Parsons - Cole Rothenberger

HONORARY PALLBEARER
Kirk Parsons

INTERMENT
Milesville Cemetery
Milesville, South Dakota

Sign the guestbook

To Connie and family, you are in our thoughts and prayers. To a life full of wisdom and stories and a full family. What a legacy left behind. I wish I could have spent more time around him.
Lance Taylor
~ Lance Taylor Worden, Mt (1/7/2026)
Connie and family, our thoughts and prayers are with all of you during this difficult time. ~ Justin and Joyce Wheeler Philip, SD (1/6/2026)
What a shock to read on facebook that Billie had passed away . Desiree and I were honored to spend some time with him at the family reunion as he took the time to impart wisdom to us as we laughed and enjoyed our time. I saw that he was a man of God who stood on the Word and believed what God said. He had us convinced he might live until 120. He said that there were 3 things he never said: I can't, I dont have time, and we think the third was I'm too old. We loved him and appreciated his warmth and hospitality. We look forward to seeing him on the other side. ~ Twilla K Morgan Billings (1/6/2026)
So sad to hear of Billie's passing. I will always have fond memories of branding and hunting with him. Rarely a dull moment! He lived as good a life as a Cowboy could hope for. A beautiful ranch, a beautiful family and most importantly, a beautiful legacy. ~ Brent & Shaye Helland West Fargo ND (1/6/2026)
Billie was just a great guy . He and Connie raised a wonderful family. God bless them all. ~ Lyndy Ireland Philip, SD (1/5/2026)
Billie was quite a guy, he touched many lives. Les had the opportunity to work with Billie, he will treasure those memories. We both always enjoyed visiting with him. Hold on to the memories. ~ Les & Joann Pearson Philip, SD (1/4/2026)
Connie and family, I was sorry to hear about Billie. I enjoyed knowing him as well as the rest of your family. God bless you all. Elaine ~ Elaine Staben Bozeman, MT (1/4/2026)
Billie always knew your name and made a point to visit with you. A very kind man. May he rest in peace. ~ Donna & Rich Perez Rapid City SD (1/3/2026)
Billie was a good friend, and a good church elder. He was a genuine nice guy. He was one of the men I had the privilege of knowing. He was also an example I wanted to follow. I will miss him, even though having not seen him in a while. My condolences to his family. ~ Chuck Maycroft Grand Island NE (1/3/2026)
Billie was one of the most friendly people in the whole county. He always had time to stop and visit about almost anything you wanted to visit about. It couldn't have been more than a month ago we had quite a visit at the sale barn. He lived a long and full life. He will be missed. ~ Boyd Waara Philip (1/2/2026)
Our condolences ~ Pat &Carla Quinn Centennial CO (1/2/2026)