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It is time for new representation for Missouri's 4th Congressional District. I believe I have the broad experience and knowledge needed to provide that representation, and in the coming months, I intend to prove it. Former Missouri State Senator James A. Noland, long the banner-carrier for conservatives in this district, is supporting my candidacy. Please check back often as we are revamping our website daily in an effort to better communicate with our neighbors here at home in Missouri, and the rest of the world as well. I look forward to meeting and visiting with as many of you as I can this election season, and hope you will contact us with your issues, concerns, questions, and thoughts. We covet your prayers and humbly ask for your support and vote. Jeff Parnell |
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Jeff Parnell was born April 10, 1961 in Wichita, Kansas. He likes to say that God allowed him to be born in the flat lands Kansas just so that he could fully appreciate the Ozark hills! Jeff’s boyhood was primarily spent in the tiny community of Garrison, Missouri, in southern Christian county, where he roamed the hills and hollows, and fished and played in Swan Creek whenever possible. He developed a lifelong love of hunting, fishing, and just being in the woods. Music became a big part of Jeff’s life; he taught himself to play guitar and sang regularly with his sister in church.
As a student, Jeff was active in all areas of student life, and he developed a unique passion for the study of American and local history, which continues to this day. He graduated from Chadwick High School in 1979 and was class valedictorian.
After a successful year at College of the Ozarks, Jeff left school and entered the workforce. He worked two years in a feed mill before landing a job in the warehouse of a Missouri farm cooperative in Springfield. A little over twenty years later, he progressed to manage that operation and supervise five others.
During the same period, Jeff and his sister Lisa were also pursuing a goal of working as singer/songwriters, with some positive result. They performed in their own show at Dogpatch, USA near Harrison, Arkansas for two seasons, and appeared in Branson and on national television and radio broadcasts. Encouraged, they moved to Nashville, Tennessee just after Jeff’s marriage to the former Nan Wakefield of Rogersville, Missouri, in 1985. Although a small measure of musical success was attained, with the publishing of songs and a busy schedule of recording and performing, Jeff’s real success occurred while working for Universal Tire, Inc., one of the most successful independent tire companies in North America at that time. His specialty became that of a retail operation troubleshooter; taking over the management of troubled, unprofitable stores and turning them around.
Jeff and Nan were blessed by the birth of two wonderful children, a boy and girl, while living in Tennessee. Desiring that their children should grow up in the Ozarks as they had been blessed to do, they returned home and settled in the Rogersville area in 1992. Jeff took over management of a struggling retail tire store for a well-known Missouri company and made it a success before a promotion to operations manager, eventually administering $10 million in operational budgets and supervising 40 employees.
Jeff and Nan became active in the community; Jeff served as music minister, deacon, and youth leader in church and sang tenor in a southern gospel quartet. Nan worked in the local school system and volunteered her time and talents for children’s causes. Both have served on the Webster County Republican Committee, Jeff as treasurer. Regretting his lack of a college degree, Jeff entered Evangel University in Springfield in 2002, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Management in 2004.
In 2003, Jeff was highly engaged in what was going on in Missouri government and made frequent trips to Jefferson City. After one trip, he composed the first song he had written in many years, just for fun, “We Can’t Keep Holden On”. That song, as well as others, received international attention and encouraged Jeff to attempt a long-held desire: run for U.S. Congress in Missouri’s 4th District. He was defeated in the primary, but made a good showing with limited resources and made a great many friends. Jeff composed more political songs and released three CDs.
In 2005, Jeff had the opportunity to leave the employer he served for seventeen years and he and Nan started their own business, Jeff Parnell Tire LLC in Springfield, which they currently operate.
While Jeff feels very blessed with the life he has been given, he knows that he is not unique. In his travels throughout Missouri, and in his study of history, he has seen what freedom, hard work, and passionate beliefs can accomplish. He hopes to pass these American ideals on to the next generation, and he believes that the average, hardworking people of this country are what truly makes it great. |
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