On Saturday, July 28, 2018, Rev. J. Richard Parler, 92, entered heaven’s gates and met his Savior face to face. Mr. Parler, a long-time resident of Wadena, known simply as Pastor to many, was born October 16, 1925, near Cameron, South Carolina, to Paul Jefferson and Mary (Kemmerlin) Parler. Upon graduation from high school in St. Matthews, South Carolina, he enlisted in the US Navy where he served aboard the USS Wasp during WWII. Shortly after his return from the Pacific, Mr. Parler met Sybil Maree Edmonds, whom he married on June 9, 1947. In spite of his aunt’s dire prediction that, “it will never last,” they remained a picture of abiding love until her death in September, 2013.