BEVERLY — When Jerry Parisella graduated from Beverly High School in 1981, he didn't head off to college like most of his classmates.
Instead, he headed across the bridge to the Salem power plant and took a job as a laborer. For two years, he worked on a crew that replaced asbestos in the plant's oil pipes and sucked fly ash out of burners.
"I was working outside in the hot summer and the cold winter," said Parisella, whose father was a construction worker. "It was good motivation to get myself in gear."
The money Parisella earned at the power plant helped pay for his education at Emerson College. Later, as a 30-year-old enlisted man in the U.S. Army Reserve, he studied for the law exam at night with the help of his fellow soldiers while they were training to be shipped out to Bosnia.
It's that type of work ethic that Parisella is vowing to bring to the Statehouse in his bid for the Beverly state representative seat.
Parisella, 47, had never run for political office before. But with incumbent Democrat Mary Grant's decision not to seek re-election, he said, "This just felt like the right time for me personally.
"I really enjoy being involved in the community," he said. "I've been involved with a lot of nonprofits and charities. To me, this is a chance to step up even more and help the community."
Parisella worked for two years as a reporter for The Salem Evening News after graduating from Emerson College, then moved to Washington, D.C., to serve as an aide and press secretary to Congressman Nick Mavroules of Peabody.
When Mavroules was indicted for accepting bribes, Parisella, as the congressman's spokesman, suddenly found himself on the front lines of a scandal that drew national attention.
Parisella said the media attention became so great that Mavroules hired another person to handle inquiries about the indictment.
"I always told people it was a challenging time at the office, but we certainly tried very hard to focus on our duties toward the constituents," Parisella said.
Joining the Army at age 30
When Mavroules lost his bid for re-election in 1992, Parisella moved back home and joined the Army Reserves. At age 30, he was off to basic training to join soldiers a generation younger.
"It was something I always wanted to do," he said. "I was getting older, and it was now or never. I just felt the desire to serve."
At the same time, he decided to study for the bar exam. At Fort Benning in Georgia, he'd break open his lawbooks in the barracks at night and his fellow soldiers would help him study.
"We'd be dirty and dusty from land-mine training and vehicle inspections and crawling through the mud in 100-degree temperatures," said Richard Lambert, who served with Parisella in the Army Reserves.
"We all just wanted to crash, but because it was Jerry we would stay up late into the night and help him. He was just one of those people you wanted to see become a lawyer, because you knew he was going to take care of people. He wasn't doing it just because he wanted to become a lawyer."
Parisella got a three-day pass to fly home for the bar exam. The next day he was on an airplane, en route to Bosnia as part of the U.S. peacekeeping force.
In Bosnia, Lambert said, Parisella would work his regular shift at his unit's tactical operations center, then volunteer for another eight-hour shift to deliver comic books warning of the dangers of land mines to local schoolchildren. He became known for his devotion to the local children, many of whom had been injured by land mines. He would bring them candy and school supplies and write back when they wrote him thank-you notes.
When Parisella was interviewed by a Boston radio station, he requested school supplies from people back home. Lambert said the response filled a 40-foot trailer.
Lambert, who was Parisella's superior, said he had to order him to slow down because his volunteer work was leading to 16-hour days.
"He epitomizes service and self-sacrifice," Lambert said. "You know how they say you can count your real friends on one hand? He's one of my one-handed friends."
Gentleman lawyer
Parisella was commissioned as an officer in 2001 and was recently promoted to major. He now serves as a lawyer for the 804th Medical Brigade at Fort Devens, serving one weekend per month and two weeks per year.
For the last 10 years, he has worked at Alexander & Femino, a general practice law office in Beverly. He also works part time as assistant city solicitor for the city of Salem, where he handles permit appeals.
Parisella recently represented the city in an appeal filed by a neighborhood group that objected to the city's plan to develop the former St. Joseph Church site.
Parisella and the city won that case. But John Carr, a Salem attorney who represented the neighborhood group, said there were never any hard feelings with Parisella.
"Jerry is the kind of guy where you can fight like hell over issues and then go have lunch," Carr said. "With Jerry, his word is his bond. You don't need to confirm anything in writing."
Parisella lives in Beverly with his wife, Lisa; 6-year-old daughter, Sophia; and 20-year-old stepson, Chris, a student at Salem State College. He is involved in several community organizations, including the Beverly Kiwanis Club, Beverly School for the Deaf and the McPherson Youth Center, and also serves on the Beverly Board of Health.
Now, he said, it's time to step out from behind the scenes.
"I feel like the reaction from people has been really positive," he said. "I've gotten a lot of support from people who normally don't get involved in politics. I'm certainly not overconfident. But the buzz out there has really been good."
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@salemnews.com.
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria
Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC
Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion'
5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La.
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
