Parsons, who has worked at Ohio University since 1998, is suffering from stomach cancer. Known widely for his affable smile and unbeatable spirit, Parsons faithfully came to work until recently unable to do so.

Colleague and Professor Terence Oliver was instrumental in getting the fundraiser off the ground. He said he'd been thinking of organizing something like this for Parsons since last spring, but just hadn't been able to pull it off until now.

“I was recently thinking of Marvin and how we had had the opportunity do something significant to help him, but hadn't, and was getting frustrated,” Oliver said. “I couldn't sleep, and I just felt compelled to do something. I got encouragement from several colleagues and decided to push the idea of an auction benefit.”

Oliver, who advises the School's Students in News Design (SND) organization, pitched his concept to students in the group several weeks ago. Students were enthusiastic about volunteering their time and talent and brainstormed ways to help.

In the end, students and faculty donated prints and other items for silent auction, and the university community turned out to support the event, raising more than $6,600.

“We had a lot of volunteers who pitched in,” Oliver said of the event. “It wound up being something like we'd never done before. We were positive about it and kept Marvin as the project's focus.”

For first-year graduate student and volunteer Maria Averion, the decision to help was an easy one.

“I got to know Marvin while working in the computer lab,” said the Pomeroy native. “He has an infectious personality, and we really hit it off. He is very open about his illness, but is still very upbeat.”

Averion, who took care of her mother as she struggled with and eventually succumbed to cancer ten years ago, found common ground with Parsons. In fact, she was so impressed with him that she asked if he'd allow her to photograph him for a class project.

“Classmates were picking high-powered subjects, but I picked an ordinary man who was doing an extraordinary thing: fighting everyday for his life,” she said.

Averion reports that the project remains incomplete, due mainly to Parsons' health. However, she had taken preliminary portraits of him that were used to help publicize the show.

Judy Reed, the assistant to the director of the School, believes Parsons is a unique and upbeat person who helps to bring out the best in others.

“Every morning, even before the diagnosis, Marvin had said, ‘I'm happy to be here,'” Reed said. “It's his trademark comment. He spends the time to sit down with students to work on computer problems. He usually fixes them, but if he can't, he follows through and directs students to someone who can.”

Claudia Strong, whose husband Bruce is on the VisCom faculty, said she has been touched by Parsons' remarkable ability to maintain a positive attitude.

“I ran into him in the emergency room just before he was admitted to the hospital this last time,” Strong says. “Had he not been sitting in the ER, I wouldn't have known anything was wrong. He was just happy Marvin. I've been amazed by his ability to ignore his circumstances and just enjoy life.”

Oliver reports that students helped to document the event and sent footage and photographs of the event to the Parsons last week, which they really enjoyed.

As Reed puts it, “Everybody here loves Marvin, and he's just a really good person to work with.”

Parsons and his wife, who were high school sweethearts, reside in Albany with their two dogs. Parsons is now home from the hospital and resting.

And if you were to ask him how he's doing, he would no doubt tell you, “I'm happy to be here!”

- Erin Roberts