Boz Parsons: World War II veteran dead at 105

A World War II veteran and educator from Ocean Grove has been remembered as a genuine, caring man who lived a remarkable life full of flying, farming and family.

21-04-2023 ANZAC Day, WW11 veteran Cecil "Boz" Parsons at home in Ocean Grove. Picture: Brad Fleet

A World War II veteran and educator from Ocean Grove has been remembered as a genuine, caring man who lived a remarkable life.

Tributes have flowed for Cecil “Boz” Parsons, 105, who died on Wednesday after a short illness.

Mr Parsons was the youngest of six children.

His father died when he was young, leaving his mother to raise them.

Mr Parsons was father to three children, William, David and Jane, eight grandchildren and three-great grandchildren – and was likely a father figure to countless more as an educator at Geelong Grammar.

Boz Parsons with wife Barbara at their home in Ocean Grove in 2023. Picture: Brad Fleet

He was “a beautiful father”, daughter Jane Parsons said, “always engaging and caring” with a “reservoir of emotional intelligence”.

“He went all over the world, supporting and seeing his children who were often in strange places,” Ms Parsons said.

When Mr Parsons was little, his father would take him to Point Lonsdale and they would watch the British fleet come in on St Patrick’s Day in 1924.

As a youngster, Mr Parsons loved navigation – he “always wanted to go to sea”.

However, the air became his calling.

Mr Parsons flew bombers for the RAF and RAAF during World War II, twice mentioned in dispatches and taking home the Flying Cross in 1944 dropping commandos in the jungle.

After the war, he flew mail drops from Alice Springs to remote communities in the Northern Territory, where his love of navigation came to the fore again.

With official maps often lacking, Mr Parsons developed his own “mudmaps” and used landmarks to navigate.

The transition from wartime service to post-war life was “hard”, but he carried with him a love of flying, something he continued even into his 80s.

But it was far from his only passion, he was also a keen golferand loved planting trees.

Boz and Barbara “loved each other right to the end, they adored each other”. Picture: Brad Fleet

Mr Parsons was an “absolute goer” who could turn his hand at anything.

Before a second stint in the air force, he spent a few years farming on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula and built his own home – including making 26,000 of his own bricks.

It was during that time that Mr Parsons married the love of his life, his wife Barbara.

The future Mrs Parsons had met him while rooming with his sister in 1944.

On February 12, the couple would have celebrated 78 years of marriage.

At the age of 42, Mr Parsons retrained as a teacher and started teaching at Geelong Grammar where he attended as a boy.

“The word ‘legend’ is often overused, but Boz Parsons was a Geelong Grammar School legend,” Andrew Burgess, president of the Old Geelong Grammarians said.

“His name adorns honour boards around Corio, his time as a housemaster in Manifold is almost mythical, and his ongoing service to our school was truly remarkable.”

Mr Parsons is survived by his wife and family.

The 105-year-old lived a full life, full of flying, farming and family.

Originally published as Boz Parsons: World War II veteran dead at 105