This was later parodied by students who called him Master P. Parrish was born and raised in Drumright, Oklahoma, where he went through the tenth grade in high School.
He worked briefly for the Southside Times in Tulsa until a college friend told him that there was an opening for an assistant professor of Journalism at OBU.
[1] Parrish joined the OBU administrative staff in 1964 and retired as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer on November 20, 2002.
[a] Parrish is also author of the book The Glory Years of Bison Basketball, a highly detailed review of the OBU dynasty of the mid-1960s, including the 1966 NAIA National Championship season.
On February 10, 2010, OBU awarded Parrish an honorary doctor of humanities degrees during the Founders' Day chapel service.