Alan Russell ParsonsAlan Russell Parsons, born December 23, 1928, passed away peacefully at the age of 89 on January 24, 2018 in Los Altos. Alan was a third generation Californian, born the 2nd of 3 children to William Walter Parsons and Marjorie Chase Parsons in Oakland, California. Alan graduated from Brett Harte Junior High, Oakland High School and in 1951 received a BS degree in Business Administration from UC Berkeley.

While at Cal, Alan was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, and enrolled in ROTC. Following graduation from Cal, Alan enlisted in the US Army during the Korean War. A graduate of Officer Candidate School, Alan served as a first lieutenant in the 7th Infantry Division in Korea. He commanded his regiment's replacement company based near the front at the 38th Parallel.

Honorably discharged from the military in 1953, Alan returned to the Bay Area and began his business career with sales positions at various textile manufactures. His interest turned to the emerging field of plastics manufacturing, and Alan attended night classes to learn about plastics materials and fabrication. By the mid 1960's Alan headed the the Northern California branch of Nash Hammond Inc., a manufacturer of plastics cases and packaging materials, with a sales a sales office and manufacturing plant located in Menlo Park. In 1969, Alan purchased the Menlo Park facility from Nash Hammond, and formed Parsons Manufacturing Cooperation. PMC's core business was vacuum-formed molded cases, custom-designed for carrying high end test and microelectronic equipment coming from companies in what would become known as Silicon Valley. Alan brought customers such as Spectra-Physics, Hewlett-Packard, Varian, and Tektronix with him as the company gained a reputation for making high quality cases at reasonable prices. Alan enjoyed working with clients to design custom products, and built PMC into a successful design and manufacturing firm until the company's closure upon his retirement in 2012.

Alan is survived by Nancy, his beloved wife of 40 years. Throughout his life, Alan and Nancy were avid skiers, tennis players, golfers, and Alan loved to relax at the end of his day playing his grand piano. He and Nancy made Los Altos their home for over 30 years, where they enjoyed spending time with children, grandchildren, and dear friends. Alan and Nancy loved to travel the world together, and frequently enjoyed cruises to exotic places with family and friends.

Alan is also survived by son Brian Parsons and daughters Randy Parsons and Maralee Parsons Sullivan, together with his stepson Randy Welsh and grandchildren Carmen, Christopher, Lauren, Grace and Madison.