Love of the outdoors fueled Derby man’s lifelong passion for taxidermy, bronze sculpting

John Parsons was a talented artist who loved being outdoors. Many of his creations were inspired by the things he saw and experienced in the wilderness, his wife says.

Parsons, a sculptor, died on June 24 at age 67. He was born in Wichita in 1955 and graduated from Derby High School in 1973.

John Parsons held multiple jobs before attending Wichita State University and taking some art classes. He later decided to leave school and became a firefighter with the Wichita Fire Department.

When back injury ended his firefighting career in 1979, he then picked up a hobby that he would later turn into a successful business: taxidermy.

“He was a taxidermist and was known all around the U.S. for his taxidermy. He had that artistic bent and design. … His father was an engineer, so I remember him talking about how important it was to make everything symmetrical, and the way you build a form to put an animal skin on.”

“That’s the way he talked about taxidermy, not just slapping the hide on a form, but you had to make it look right — and he was very good at it,’‘ his wife said.

Parsons eventually bought a building in Derby and did taxidermy full time. “He had opened up a meat-processing plant to go with his taxidermy, so he did that during deer hunting season. It was very popular,” Carol Parsons said.

Parsons’ love for nature and being outdoors eventually led him to shape his art through a different medium. He closed down his taxidermy business in 2012 to focus on bronze sculpting.

“He started dabbling in sculpting about 20 years ago doing a little bit here and there, but it didn’t really take off until he closed down his taxidermy shop. … It’s something that he always wanted to try,” she said.

“John’s love for wildlife and the outdoors has dictated the course of his life since he was a young child. His goal is to share that love of wild things with others through his art,” according to his artist bio.

The couple traveled across the country to work shows, where Parsons began getting his name and statues out. He was a member of the Safari Club International.

“He would load up his bronzes’ and life-size sculptures into a trailer and we would truck across the country…There’s people with money that come to those shows, and they’re looking to buy stuff. That’s how he got his name out there,” Carol Parsons said.

The couple eventually stopped attending the shows, citing John’s disability from his injury. But his wife says he had no intention of slowing down his craft any time soon.

“It was starting to wear on him … but he was an example that somebody can do anything if you just put your mind to it, and there’s so many people in this world that are completely opposite, but John made it happen. Whatever he wanted, he made it happen.”

Parsons’ sculptures have been installed at the California 9/11 Memorial, Clovis, California; Cabela’s, Thornton, Colorado; Gander Mountain and WaterWalk, Wichita; and Hopkins County Veterans Memorial, Sulphur Springs, Texas, among many locations throughout the country.

He also created lamp sculptures that Cabela’s sold in stores and online.

Parsons was first diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2015. He went into remission for a few years, but the cancer came back in May, at the same time he had COVID-19, his wife said.

“His plan was to keep working. He was not going to retire. He had said ‘I can’t just sit around the house all day.’”

John is survived by his wife, Carol and step-daughters Erica McKinney and Amanda Davis.

A celebration of life service will be held on July 7, from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Venue at Madison Avenue Central Park in Derby.