Hurlock - Leighton Andrew (Andy) Parezo passed away Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017 at the Chesapeake Woods Center, Cambridge.
Andy was born Jul. 30, 1921 in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of the late Ernest Sloane Parezo and Lilas (Dolly) Peck Parezo of Cleveland, Ohio and Washington, D.C. He was educated in the Washington, D.C. school system and graduated from McKinley Technical High School where he later served as electric shop teacher. He attended Wilson Teachers College and George Washington University. He was honorably discharged from the Army Air Corp. in 1943 and worked for 16 years at IBM in Washington, D.C. Further employment with Laboratory for Electronics, Anelex Corp., and Foxboro Corp. took him to Berryville, Va. and to Abington, Mass. He returned to Maryland in 1975 to work for the Airpax Corp. from which he retired in 1987.
He was active in the Boy Scouts of America for over 53 years, including service as Scout Master of two different Boy Scout Troops and Cub Master of a Cub Scout Pack. He also served scouting in many other volunteer positions. He held the Silver Beaver award in scouting and Vigil Honor in Scouting's Order of the Arrow. He was a Past Master Councilor of Robert Le Bruce Chapter, Order of DeMolay, Washington, D.C. He was an Honorary Life Member of Cambridge Lodge 1272, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and was a past trustee of that Lodge.
He was preceded in death by his sweetheart, Julia (Judy) Osmer Parezo who died Mar. 13, 2000. Leighton and Judy were married Oct. 2, 1942 and had over 57 great years together.
Following Judy's death Andy worked as a community volunteer. His volunteer work included home visits, grief counseling including children's bereavement camps. These were with Coastal Hospice, Queen Anne's Hospice and Delaware Hospice. He was associated with the Dorchester Heritage Museum and the Dorchester County Historical Society.
Andy is survived by three sons, Chris Parezo (Donna) of Kingston, Mass., Ken Parezo (Justine) of Baltimore, Gary Parezo (Cindy) of Hurlock; and his daughter, Ellen Brown of Port Orchard, Wash. He is further survived by eight grandchildren, Jamin Parezo (Courtney) of Baltimore, Enan Parezo (Jennifer) of Charleston, S.C., Allison Nice (Jesse) of Connecticut, Michelle Parezo of Kingston, Mass., Nicole Miorle (Marco) of Canton, Mass., Jesse Brown of Tacoma, Wash., and Joseph and John Maio of Wash. He is also survived by eight great-grandchildren.
A graveside service was held 11 a.m., Monday, Oct. 16, 2017 at Dorchester Memorial Park, Cambridge. The family received friends on Sunday at the Framptom Funeral Home, Federalsburg, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
To share memories with the family please visit www.framptom.com