Brenda Jarvis January 13, 2017

CARBONDALE — Brenda Byrl (Parson) Jarvis, 68, passed away Friday, Jan. 13, 2017.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, in Walker’s Funeral Home and Crematory, with the Rev. Paul Hicks of Murdale Baptist Church officiating. Burial will follow in Oakland Cemetery in Carbondale. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20, at the funeral home.

Brenda was born Aug. 2, 1948, on Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana, to Beavin E. and Dorothy Jo (Burke) Parson.

She married Bob Jarvis, son of Frank and Agnes Louise (Maze) Jarvis, on June 22, 1968, in Carbondale. The greatest job she ever had was being a mom to her three boys. However, after she had raised her own children, Brenda worked as an admissions counselor at John A. Logan College, where, until she retired in 2004, she helped ensure countless students met their graduation goals.

Brenda is preceded in death by her parents; her parents-in-law; and brother in-law, Barry Brown.

Brenda is survived by her husband, Bob; three sons, John Jarvis of Chicago, Jarrod Jarvis of San Antonio, Texas, and Jeffrey Jarvis of Southaven, Mississippi; two sisters, Edwina (Parson) Carter and husband, Chuck, of Cape Coral, Florida, and Denice (Parson) Brown of Kewanee; two sisters-in-law, Linda (Jarvis) Randall and husband, Alan, of Boston, Massachusetts, and Margaret Kay (Jarvis) Cole and husband, Henry, of Ramsey; seven grandchildren, Jacob and Heather Jarvis of O’Fallon, Natalie and Holden Jarvis of San Antonio, Texas, and Jalyn, Reagen, and William Jarvis of Southaven, Mississippi; five nieces and nephews, Emily Carter and husband, Bill Wilkison, Matthew Carter and wife, Carla, Amy Jo (Brown) Hagerty and husband, Todd, and Douglas Brown and fiancee, Autumn Rogers, Michael Cole and wife, Michelle.

Brenda was a proud graduate of Carbondale Community High School’s class of 1966. She attended Southern Illinois University until deciding to pursue her true passion, raising a family. It was through her husband, children, and grandchildren that Brenda found her greatest pleasures. Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Brenda was a fixture at school sporting events, carnivals, plays, dances, and concerts. Anyone who attended Carbondale schools or participated in extracurricular activities with her children benefited from Brenda’s giving nature.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be given to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

The family of Brenda wishes to extend our sincere thanks to Dr. Kurt Martin and his staff at the Carbondale Clinic, the staff of Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, and the nursing staff of Manor Court of Carbondale.