Supporting research for a cure after a fortunate life

Half a century-long marriage, a full life and an active retirement were disrupted when Rob Parsonage developed MND in 2019.

Tireless and fortunate

Half a century-long marriage, a full life and an active retirement were disrupted when Rob Parsonage developed MND in 2019.

After a working life running a slew of successful businesses, Rob Parsonage immersed himself in an active retirement kayaking, going to the gym every day and playing golf regularly.

“Then, all of a sudden he started noticing that he was having trouble tying ties and doing up buttons and even the mouse on the computer became difficult to use,” says Sandy, his wife of 50 years. “He thought maybe he’d had a minor stroke and he also went to see a hand specialist.”

It was only after a brain scan that the devastating truth was revealed. Professor Dominic Rowe at the Centre for MND Research confirmed that Rob had advanced sporadic MND.

“The worst thing was that Rob was just plain terrified,” says Sandy. “He didn’t know how much time he had left and felt he had so many finances to tidy up. He had an incredible strength of personality that never left him. He also kept up his dark humour right until the end.”

Weeks before his death at the age of 75 in February 2020, Rob decided to make a substantial annual contribution to the Centre for MND Research. “He was always searching for answers to everything and he was very supportive of research to find a cure for MND,” she says.

TIRELESS AND FORTUNATE

Rob had grown up in Hornsby in northern Sydney in a family of fourth generation butchers. His family established the first KFC franchise in Australia, which Rob then took over and became an energetic serial entrepreneur.

“For the first ten years of our marriage, Rob would be up at three am, going to the abattoir in Homebush to buy the meat for the butcher shop, come home and have a sleep until about 10 and then up again, working at one of the chicken shops and stay there until about 11 at night, seven days a week,” Sandy says.

Simultaneously, he created the Black Stump chain of steakhouses which he ran for 35 years.

The family also had a sheep farm, a travel business and later bred racehorses. He left behind three sons, a daughter and nine grandchildren. “Rob always said he was grateful that he’d led such a fortunate life,” she says.