Parley Odell Davis
May 17, 1943 – August 10, 2025

Parley Odell Davis was born on May 17, 1943, in Malad City, Idaho. His entrance was hastened because of a bumpy car ride and a deep rut in the road. He was the third child born to Dale and Afton Davis of St John, Idaho.

As a young boy, Parley loved spending time with his paternal grandparents, Tom and Rachel Davis. He felt extremely close to his grandma Rachel. He spent much time with her mowing the lawn, taking care of the chickens, picking berries, and as he put it, “generally being a pest”. He would often accompany his grandpa Tom into town. At the pool hall, Tom would hand him a Coke, and sit him on top of the bar where he could sip his cola and watch his grandpa play pool and cards.

Parley had an undeniable enthusiasm for his career of choice. He loved being a farmer/rancher and found huge satisfaction in watching the results of a job well done. He loved being around the animals, especially horses. He said that whenever something bothered him, or he felt down, he would saddle up and go for a ride, or just go catch one and groom or trim its feet. He loved being on a good horse, either cutting cattle, roping, or just trying to train one.

Parley was self-admittedly very bashful, but as he has said, at the age of 34, he finally “got up enough nerve to ask Pat on a date”. His devotion to farm life was evident to Pat, as their first date was with a group of friends to a fertilizer seminar being held at the Green T in Pocatello, Idaho. It must have appealed to Pat, a farm-grown girl herself, because after a couple of years of dating, on February 04, 1977, the two of them eloped to Elko, Nevada, tied the knot, and made it back in time for the next day’s cattle feeding. This began a lifetime of working by each other’s side. Where one was, the other was never far away.

They were sealed for time and all eternity on June 15, 1978, in the Odgen, Utah Temple. In a journal entry, Parley wrote, “Although I didn’t always live my religion previously, I never denied it and I always knew it was true, and after Pat and I were married, I started to realize how much my religion meant to me, and I desired to live it better.”

Parley and Pat had two daughters, Heather Marie and Rachael Ann. He loved them both unconditionally and taught both of them valuable life lessons.

Parley held many church callings, including being in the Elder’s Quorum Presidency, Sunday School Presidency, Home Teaching, Ward Mission Leader, and Ward Clerk, but nothing could top the icing on the cake, which was his service in the temple. Parley and Pat were called to be temple ordinance workers in the Logan LDS temple in 2001 and spent eight years in their service there. Parley loved being in the temple and made many eternal friends while serving.

On August 10, 2025, at his home in Pleasantview, with a view of “them north hills” and the American flag that he found so much joy in watching, Parley was blessed to pass to the other side with his wife, daughter, grandchildren, and son-in-law at his side.

Parley was an honest, hardworking, generous, patient, kind, loving, humorous, fun-loving, happy man. Among his many gifts, he had the ability to relate to others, listen, calm, de-escalate situations, teach, mediate, and provide comfort and reassurance.

As a family, we have had the opportunity to read through several of Parley’s journal entries over the past few days. He seemed to have a few things that he wrote about often: his love and adoration of Pat, his kids, and grandkids, and updates on the weather and the crops, and animals. But there is one thing in particular that stood out to us. It didn’t matter that the weather had messed up his plans for farming, or that a piece of equipment had broken down, or that he maybe hadn’t felt well that day. So often he closed his journal entry with these 5 words, “It was a good day”.