Brian was born on 27 June 1950 to Dennis and Lucy Parish. He was the eldest of 7 children and his early years were spent in a ‘prefab’ in Churchill Avenue Chatham, where he was joined by his brother Dennis in December 1951. In early 1953 the family moved to King George Road in Walderslade where they were joined by Linda (died in infancy), Christine, Annette, Steve and Elaine (also died in infancy). This was to remain the family home until 2005.

Brian attended Oakland Primary School going on to Walderslade Boys Secondary before leaving school in 1965 to take up a four year apprenticeship with Medway Buildings Ltd in Rochester, where he gained an Advanced City & Guilds Certificate in Machine Woodworking and Joinery. He was asked to become a tutor of other students due to the high quality of his workmanship which he declined. In March 1970 he joined E Jones and Sons Timber Merchants at their branch in Maidstone using his wood machining skills as well as working in their shop advising the weekend DIYers how to complete their projects.

Sadly in April 1971 Brian lost his mother Lucy, to whom he was extremely close, to cancer leaving his Dad Dennis to hold the family together. During this time Brian was a great support to his Dad and his brothers and sisters. In December 1972 Brian married Jenny and they were joined in December 1977 by son Matthew. Brian continued to work for E Jones working his way up to Production Manager at the Sawmills in Slade Green which is where he met Val.

In August of 1985 Brian and Val were invited to join the Berwick Family business of Parkes Products Ltd in Thetford and after marrying in March 1986 made the move to Old Buckenham in the August of that year. The first couple of years were spent trying to get the business up and running successfully which entailed working long hours and any spare time they did have was spent going back down to Kent to visit family. Once there was more time available Brian threw himself in to village life, joining the Village Hall Committee for a couple of years, he was also Chairman of the fundraising committee for the Scout Group and eventually after plans for a Millennium Fayre on the village green, he became Chairman of the Old Buckenham 2000 Trust.

In February 2002 Brian had his first encounter with cancer which involved an operation to remove a tumour from his cheek. He recovered well from this and came to realise how precious life was. Brian and Val spent the next twelve fantastic years enjoying life with plenty of travel together and much time spent in their home in Spain. At the beginning of 2015 Brian was again diagnosed with oral cancer and had a huge operation in April. At the beginning of May just one week after leaving hospital Brian & Val attended the wedding of his son Matthew to the lovely Rebecca, a fabulous day, but sadly plans for them to attend a second ceremony in China had to be cancelled. At the end of May Brian was given the devastating news that the cancer had spread and was now non-curative. Throughout all of his treatments Brian rarely complained and every obstacle that was put before him he overcame. In September last year Brian was fit enough for another visit to Spain and in December a Christmas Market's cruise to Antwerp. New Year's Eve saw another trip away, nothing was going to stop him. One infection too many sadly took him from us on 14th May, he died in hospital surrounded by family and friends. The end of a very special life.