Dust dances in the beams of sunlight pouring through the windows of the Dr. Doug Parrett Memorial Arena in the University of Illinois Stock Pavilion. The tiers of solid, cement benches are well-worn after being occupied by students and spectators through the years. 

Dedicated March 8, 2024, this arena served as Doug Parrett’s classroom for 49 years — and that’s not counting his four years as an undergraduate student himself.

The historic venue also hosted Parrett’s visitation after he passed unexpectedly in August 2022. People stood in line for hours to pay their respects, many of them families with multiple generations influenced by his mentorship. That day affirmed the legacy he had built as an educator and was a catalyst in making his legacy permanent with the decision to dedicate the arena in his honor. 

Parrett set foot on the University of Illinois campus as a freshman in 1969 and would stay to obtain his master’s and doctorate in animal sciences. During his time as a student, he was a member of the 1972 National Champion Livestock Judging Team and instructed his first classes as a graduate teaching assistant. 

He met his wife, Susie, in the summer of 1976. She was a University of Illinois senior earning her bachelor’s in finance. The pair were married in 1979 and began raising a family in Champaign, Ill.

Wife, Susie, with husband, Doug Parrett, and children, John and Annie

Parrett took a faculty position in the Department of Animal Sciences in 1981. In 1982, he coached the university’s National Champion Livestock Judging Team, becoming one of the few individuals to earn the title as both a member and coach. 

This was the tip of the iceberg for Parrett, who served in a multitude of capacities for the university — including educator, livestock judging coach, Extension specialist, research collaborator and department head to name a few — and did them well. Through teaching alone, he accumulated more tha 20 awards.

“You just don’t find somebody that’s around the university for his 49 years of teaching in so many roles,” Susie says. 

He spent 31 of those years coaching the Meat Animal Evaluation team alongside colleague Tom Carr, winning 16 national championships during their tenure. Of all the roles he held and courses he taught, the most significant might have been teaching an introductory course, Animal Sciences 100.

“These are freshmen, they’re away from home for the first time,” says Rodney Johnson, head of the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois. “He was very good at engaging the students regardless of their background.”

Based on university enrollment records, Parrett taught 8,120 students in this course alone. Often one of the first faces new students would encounter, he offered a warm welcome and a listening ear.

“I wish I could bottle up his ability to make people feel at ease,” Johnson says. “He was at the level of the people he was interacting with, and I think that’s why students really liked him.”

Dan Shike, a colleague and long-time mentee of Parrett’s, says he had a special way of making everybody feel like somebody.
He recalls they met fittingly at the “Angus Spotlight Show,” which was held at the Stock Pavilion. Shike, a young exhibitor at the time, had heard stories of Parrett as an ever-present figure in Illinois agriculture. 

“After the first time I met him, every time I saw him after that he remembered my name.” During a visit to the university his senior year of high school, Shike recalls, “I felt like I had extra special treatment because I got to spend so much time with him. I think I later found out he gave that extra special treatment to probably just about any student.”

Jack of all trades, master of many

Beyond the classroom, Parrett made waves in the livestock industry. 

His knowledge as a livestock evaluator was recognized on a global scale. Parrett made his first trip to Australia in the late ‘70s at age 28, judging shows and giving clinics on cattle evaluation and management. While there he also established a scholarship program with Angus Australia, which allowed the student who won their annual Angus judging competition to study for a semester at the University of Illinois. 

In advisory roles like serving on the Angus Genetics Inc. board of directors, he was once again dedicated to doing his part to advance the cattle business.

“He just had this ability to have his hands in so many things and have an impact in so many areas, yet he still kept his family and his faith as a priority,” Shike says.

Anyone who knew Parrett knew he loved his family deeply. He was a proud husband, father and grandfather. 

The Parrett children — son, John, and daughter, Annie — grew up with their father as their biggest supporter and coach. He treasured his time playing golf with John and coaching Annie’s basketball teams. His family says he always encouraged them in their academic and life successes.

“It’s hard to imagine how one incredible man could give 100% to so many different aspects of his life,” Susie says. “He didn’t do anything halfway, and even though he traveled a lot, he seemed to always be there as a dad.”

A lasting legacy

When Parrett judged the Phenotype and Genotype Show at the 2022 National Junior Angus Show (NJAS), his closing remarks summarized his perspective on what makes the livestock industry and its young people special:

“You know we all get bogged down in life thinking about what’s wrong with America. ‘How can people be so stupid? How can they have an opinion that’s different than mine?’ And then you just hang around here for a little while and you see what’s right with America.”
These words rang true to Parrett’s firm belief in agricultural youth, a belief which fueled his years spent educating the next generation and cultivating their potential. 

From his ability to make time for others to his work to progress the livestock industry, Parrett’s passion for investing in others was reflected in everything he did. Those close to him explain that although he would be flattered by his recognition as a 2023 Angus Heritage Foundation inductee, he didn’t focus on accolades.

“He was humble — he knew he had a strong influence and that he could make a big difference, but he was approachable,” Susie says. “I always say kind of a quiet force. He could guide people in the right direction.” 

Editor’s note: Peyton Schmitt is a freelance writer from Saint Paul, Neb.