In 1942, Parmley was asked to become the second counselor to May Green Hinckley in the general presidency of the Primary.

During Parmley's tenure, Scouting was integrated into the Primary program for boys ages eight through eleven.

The Primary curriculum was also revised and became more centered on teaching doctrines of the LDS Church.

Parmley oversaw its phase-out and the launch of the church's new magazine for children, The Friend.

In 2003, one of her sons, William W. Parmley, became a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, a general authority of the LDS Church.