Grantham, N.H. —
Michelle was born on May 8, 1968, in Inglewood, Calif. She was the eldest daughter of Robert and Norma (Antonelli) Rice. In 2004, Michelle married the love of her life, John Parsons, in Hanover, N.H. Her family included a kind, intelligent, and brave daughter, Olivia and a rambunctious puppy, Remington.
Michelle grew up in Huntington Beach, Calif. She graduated from Huntington Beach High School in 1986. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, cum laude, from Boston University in 1990 and a PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Southern California in 1997.
Michelle began her employment at West Central Behavioral Health in Lebanon, New Hampshire in June 1998, following two years as a Psychology Intern and a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. In 2002, she became the Director of Children and Family Services at WCBH. She held this position until her passing. She also served as the Clinical Supervisor for the Dartmouth Psychology Internship Program and held a faculty position of Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.
Throughout her career Michelle was a dedicated and empathetic clinician as well as a respected leader. She received the Unsung Hero Award from the Child Advocacy Center in 2014 for providing long-termleadership. In May 2016, she was due to receive the Margaret M. Riggs Distinguished Contribution Award from the New Hampshire Psychological Association for the psychologist demonstrating extraordinary skills in teaching, research, or service.
Michelle’s premature death cannot undo what she accomplished in life. She changed the lives of more people than we may ever know. Michelle dedicated her life to counseling children who were victims of trauma. For many years she was an active collaborator with the Dartmouth Trauma Interventions Research Center and helped bring trauma-focused evidence-based practices to community mental health. Michelle also served as the mental health representative to the Child Advocacy Center (CAC) of Grafton and Sullivan Counties Case Review Team and Advisory Board which facilitated the provision of assistance for families in crisis.
In work as in life, she will be remembered for her compassion, kindness, intelligence, and dry wit. She could communicate her thoughts with a single look or wry smile. She would counsel and guide others with such subtlety and thoughtfulness that the mantra of her friends and colleagues in times of crisis became “what would Michelle do?” Her time here was too short, but her impact and memory will last forever – in the lives of her family, friends, and the children she has helped.
Michelle was preceded in death by her grandparents, Pearl and Harvey Antonelli of Silt, Colo. She is survived by her devoted husband John Parsons of Grantham; and her beautiful daughter, Olivia; as well as her loving parents, Robert and Norma Rice of Huntington Beach, Calif.; her sister, Tricia Wood and brother-in-law, Richard Wood of Newton, Mass.; and her nephews, Henry and Matthew Wood and Spencer Parsons. She is also survived by her loving family through marriage, her parents-in-law, Robert and Gail Parsons of Sunapee, N.H.; her brother-in-law, Dr. Michael Parsons and his wife, Katelyn Randall and their children, Spencer Parsons and Sylvia Randall Munoz of Portland, Ore.
A visitation will be held at the Ricker Funeral Home, 56 School Street, Lebanon, N.H. on Friday, April 15 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The funeral will be at the Ricker Funeral Home on Saturday, April 16 at 10 a.m. A reception for friends and family will follow. There will be a private burial for the family.
In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial donations be made in memory of Michelle Parsons to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, P.O. Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284 (or via www.dana-farber.org/gift) or to West Central Behavioral Health, c/o Lebanon Child Program, 9 Hanover Street Suite 2, Lebanon, NH 03766. A message of condolence can be shared with Michelle’s family by visiting www.rickerfuneralhome.com.