Richard L. Parmeter
Last Updated on October 19, 2025 by Cass County Communication Network
Services for Richard L. Parmeter, 81, of Logansport, will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, at Gundrum Funeral Home, with Pastor David Noel officiating. Friends may call from 11 a.m. until the time of the funeral on Tuesday. Burial, with military rites, will be in Shideler Cemetery, Logansport.
Born March 6, 1944, in Logansport, he was the son of Lemoine and Opal (Helvie) Parmeter. He died at 12:11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in Parkview Logansport Hospital. He formerly was married to the late Candace Parmeter, with whom he shared his life for nearly 50 years. Though their lives later took separate paths, they remained friends until her passing in 2021.
Surviving are three daughters, Heather (Mark) Pflug, of Greensboro, NC, and Holly Tabbs and Camilla Zwiebel, both of Logansport; and six grandchildren, Casey Rivard, Harley Wines, Delaney Nava, Donovan Wines, Carrington Tabbs, and CJ Tabbs.
Two sisters, Rosemary Parmeter and Rita Morgan, and one infant son, Christopher Richard Parmeter, preceded in death.
He was a 1962 graduate of Washington Township High School, and he and his classmates regularly gathered for dinner and socializing at local restaurants. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1965, he served in the Vietnam War as an electrician, power plant operator, and mechanic. He earned the Vietnam Service Medal after qualifying as a sharpshooter and also received the National Defense Service Medal.
Rich was a lifelong farmer who also had worked as a petroleum delivery driver for Farm Bureau Co-Op (later ProAgCo), an authorized OCCO Feeds dealer, and a skilled sheet metal worker for Independent Ventilation Systems. He raised livestock for years, ranging from sheep and cattle to chickens, pheasants, and quail. He was an avid hunter, having owned and raised several hunting dogs, including his beloved Rosie, a Redbone Coonhound. He also loved fishing, especially for blue gill on his boat at Bruce Lake. He had a keen eye for finding Native American arrowheads, accumulating an impressive collection, and he thoroughly enjoyed walking through the woods and hunting for (and eating) Morel mushrooms. Planting and caring for his garden was one of Rich’s favorite pastimes — something in which he took great pride for every decade of his life. In 1990, he realized his dream of visiting Alaska, traveling with his dear friend John Combs and meeting up with his cousin, John Helvie, who then lived in the 49th state. Rich fondly remembered that trip and the great adventures they shared. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3790, where, for years, he ate breakfast with ahandful of friends — and at times his grandchildren — while happily smoking cigarettes and discussing the news of the day.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the local VFW post.
Friends are invited to sign Rich’s guest book and send online condolences to the family at www.gundrumcares.com.