Brad Parkins Obituary, Death – After a battle with brain cancer that lasted for 34 months, Brad Parkins, age 53, from Hinsdale, Illinois, went away in the comfort of his own home, surrounded by his devoted family. Brad spent his childhood in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, and attended both Richards Elementary School (which he referred to as “Home of the Tigers!”) and Whitefish Bay High School (which he referred to as “Home of the Blue Dukes!”) with great pride. Whitefish Bay was and will truly always be his happiest spot because it brought him a lot of joy throughout his life and was always a source of happiness for him.
Following his graduation from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, where he made friends who would be his closest companions throughout his life, Brad went on to have an extraordinary career in Sales and Marketing in the field of higher education publishing. The majority of Brad’s successful career was spent at Pearson Education, where he was held in high esteem for the integrity of his character, the genuineness of his leadership, and his ability to inspire others.
Throughout the course of his career, Brad was honored with a plethora of accolades, some of which include the Buffalo Award, the award for Marketing Manager of the Year, the award for Product Team of the Year, the award for First Edition of the Year, the award for Discipline Achievement, the award for Revision of the Year, and many awards for Marketing Superstar. As a Sales Representative, Brad was likewise quite successful and continued to meet all of his goals year after year.
The most important parts of Brad’s life were being a husband to Jen, the woman he had been married to for the past 20 years, and a father to his two daughters, Katherine “Katie,” 19, and Jack, 17. In his roles as husband and father, Brad crammed their lives with belly laughs, all-encompassing love, steadfast support, real generosity, and numerous days and nights filled with cheering for the Green Bay Packers, complete with treasured memories of full-face paint and wigs.
They came to realize that the happiest times were those that were spent curled up on the couch together as a family right in their own living room. Preceded in death by his father Thomas (Patti Levin) Parkins, he lives on in the hearts of his wife Jen, children Katie and Jack, mother Ann Parkins (James) Magestro, brother Daniel (Stephanie) Parkins, sister Megan (Adam) Hendrickson and sister Amy (Jack Johnson) Parkins, many nieces, nephews, and cousins, countless incredible friends, and colleagues as well as all whose lives he touched with his big-hearted personality, quick wit, and charm.