KRISTI SUE (BUCKER) PARROTT

August 29,1973 – June 06, 2024

Kristi Sue (Bucker) Parrott, born August 29, 1973, in South Bend, IN. Died June 6, 2024, at 3 a.m. at her home in Granger, surrounded by her family.

Kristi passed peacefully while she slept but there was nothing peaceful about her fight against cancer. She took it head on and never backed down since it was found in her breast in 2013. It was Stage 4 from the start, spreading immediately to her hip bone. It would come back again in 2016, 2021, and again this past fall.

But Kristi inspired everyone with her strength and determination. She didn't complain about the pain. She did not stop working. She did not stop playing. Or traveling. She didn't stop loving life. She was driven by her love for everyone, but especially children, and especially her son Drew and daughter Emily.

Kristi graduated from Penn High School in 1991, where her contagious enthusiasm and warmth drew others like a magnet. As far back as Elsie Rogers Elementary, if you were new or maybe not in with the popular crowd, Kristi instantly befriended you. She had a positivity and brightness that just drew you in.

At Penn Kristi was the Kingsmen mascot, a job she took very seriously, and she played varsity softball. She attended Indiana University Bloomington, where she earned a bachelor's in education. She taught overseas for a year in Scotland at a boarding school on the Isle of Skye, an experience she cherished.

Back in the states though, it was social work rather than teaching that first sparked her passion. She knew that ultimately, she would work to help children learn but first she wanted insights into the struggles they face at home from abuse and neglect.

She worked at Family and Children's Center in Mishawaka, Swanson Center in Michigan City, George Junior Republic in Lafayette, Healthy Families in Lafayette, and Child Protective Services in Elkhart County.

After social work, she taught in the South Bend Community School Corp., at Navarre Intermediate, where she was named Teacher of the Year, Clay Intermediate Center, and Darden Elementary. She loved staying connected with her students over the years and crossing paths with them as they grew into adults.

While balancing work and parenting, she attended graduate school, earning a master's in special education from Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. She coached softball and led a Girl Scouts Troop.

Since 2020, Kristi loved operating a home day care. She found day care just as rewarding, or even more so in some ways, than anything she had done with children up to that point in her career.

Last year The Butterfly Foundation honored Kristi with its Healing Hearts Award, a lifetime achievement award recognizing her "unwavering dedication, resilience and profound impact in the field of education."

As impressive as that was, her kids, friends and family over the years will tell you she was simply a lot of fun. A radiant beam of positive energy that found the good in everyone.

Along her cancer journey Kristi inspired many others who had cancer, through public speaking, interviews and one-on-one talks. She was never willing to lie down and give in to cancer, even though statistics gave her only a 25% chance of living longer than five years when she was first diagnosed. She was determined to see Drew and Emily grow as much as possible.

Newly approved drugs helped to slow the cancer's spread, but she credited much of her longevity to Dr. Rafat Ansari, her oncologist. She was awed by his intellect, and she loved his colorful socks, his warm hugs and the fact that he had also treated her mother, Carolyn "Sue" Bucker, who died of breast cancer in 1998. Kristi wanted to live as long as she could, but also took heart in her faith, knowing that she would one day be reunited with her mom in Heaven.

In addition to Drew and Emily, Kristi is survived by her husband Jeffrey H. Parrott, father Joseph R. Bucker, brother Joseph W.R. Bucker (Dena Durish), and sister Heather (Bucker) Leer. She dearly loved her nieces Mackenzie Weisweaver, Audri Leer, Delaney Bucker, Josie Bucker, and nephews Nate Bucker, Jack Bucker, and Caiden Leer. Kristi also is reunited with Jack in Heaven.

There will be viewing for family and friends from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Chapel Hill Funeral Home, located at 10776 McKinley Highway, Osceola, IN, with a funeral service to begin at 6:00  p.m.