Friends Say Goodbye to the 'Baritone in the Barn'

Joe Parypa sold just about anything he could while working as an auctioneer for most of his adult life.

He commanded center stages across the Pacific Northwest, selling cars, farm equipment, heavy machinery, items at charity auctions and more. Despite the more lucrative opportunities some of those items presented, he never strayed far from his first love: livestock.

Parypa, who co-owned the Chehalis Livestock Market for 33 years, died Feb. 21 at a Tacoma hospital nearly two weeks after being gored by a bull in Chehalis. He also suffered from Parkinson’s Disease, which contributed to his injuries becoming fatal.

A memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. on March 17 at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound. Dave Balmelli, Parypa’s business partner, said it was a struggle to find a location large enough to accommodate the expected turnout from Lewis County and beyond.

“We were all just family around here,” Dave Balmelli said. “It wasn’t just a business. Our kids grew up together. Getting to spend 35 years in a partnership, I guess that’s a pretty good run.”

The Chehalis Livestock Market has continued to host auctions each week following Parypa’s death, where hundreds of cattle and other animals are bought and sold in an atmosphere still thick with the presence of its fallen figurehead.

Cody Miller sat at the dais Friday afternoon to read announcements before he started rattling through about 200 head of cattle for the bidding audience. The longest one, and the one he repeated more than a few times, was a reminder about Parypa’s service.

“It’s not just a tragedy for me, but one for our whole community,” Ellen Parypa, Joe Parypa’s wife, said. “He was my best friend and I had to share him with a lot of people, but he always stayed humble and never thought he was better than anyone else.”

Joe Parypa graduated from Centralia High School having grown up surrounded by agriculture and livestock. His stepfather, John Denny Malnerich, owned and operated Midway Meats on Airport Road between Centralia and Chehalis. 

Balmelli and Parypa bought the Chehalis Livestock Market in 1986 after it had fallen into bankruptcy. 

The next year, Parypa was named the World Reserve Grand Champion Auctioneer, runner up to Jeff Stokes of Port Orchard at the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship in Toronto, Ontario.

“I can remember when Dave (Balmelli) came to Joe and said, ‘Hey, the livestock yard is in bankruptcy, what do you think?’” Ellen Parypa said. “(Joe Parypa) thought, ‘my god, he wants to be my business partner?’ The Balmelli name carries a lot of weight around here and I think it blew him away.”

Stokes, now based out of Pierce County, went on to earn the livestock auctioneering triple crown, also bagging the top prize at the National Auctioneers Association Invitational and the World Automobile Auctioneer Championship.

Stokes recalled Friday how the two first met in the early 1980s when he was hired to be Parypa’s underling at the Twin City Livestock Market. Both graduated from Western College of Auctioneering in Billings, Montana; Parypa first, then Stokes. 

Their relationship was a bit frosty at first, as Mike Seymour hired Stokes rather than give Parypa a raise. Any lingering chill melted away in 1984 when Stokes, now working at South Seattle Auto Auction in Kent, recommended Parypa be hired for an open position. 

The two became fast friends while Parypa, the older of the two, brought Stokes up to speed.

“I didn’t know anything about cattle,” Stokes said. “He knew it all. Even at a young age, his knowledge about the product and the buyers was second to none. He stood out with his chant, a rich baritone that lifted the room.”

The pair soon began competing in auctioneering contests, though it wasn’t until 1987 that they cracked the code.

According to Stokes, that was the first year they worked together to hone their skills, putting in work after auctions the way a basketball player might return to the gym after a game. They dreamed of making the final round together in Toronto.

Stokes wound up having to borrow Parypa’s tie after his luggage was lost in transit, but both placed in the top 15 during the preliminary rounds. Numbers were drawn alphabetically out of a hat before the finals to determine the contest order. Parypa drew No. 4, Stokes said, leaving Nos. 5 and 15 for himself.

“I knew I had no chance if I drew the five,” Stokes said. “Who could follow Joe? We were sequestered backstage during the finals, but I could hear the applause, how loud it got for him. He came bounding out the back afterwards just full of an amazing joy.”

Stokes wound up going last and ultimately edged out his friend for the title. He choked up while recalling the scene as the head judge read off the top three names and how the pair celebrated when Parypa placed second, only to hear Stokes be crowned champion.

“It didn’t matter to Joe and I how we finished,” Stokes said. “I wish they would have picked Joe, because he was so much better than myself. I just happened to be the last one in the barn. It linked us together forever. We just wanted to compete together, and we won the world together.”

Parypa’s impact on the Washington agriculture community was not limited to its professional ranks. He was heavily involved in local Future Farmers of America and 4-H clubs as well as the Junior Livestock Sale that takes place each summer during the Southwest Washington Fair. Brenda Balmelli said she thought Parypa had been involved youth livestock events at every fair in the state of Washington at one point or another.

Parypa also helped numerous young auctioneers get their starts in the business, including Miller, who started working at the livestock market when he was 14 years old. Now 21, Miller hopes to continue on in the auctioneer’s chair there for years to come.

“Joe always led by example,” Miller said. “He taught me a lot of things and always shared his thoughts on what was working and what wasn’t. It was like going to school every day with him as a mentor.”

The Parypas helped raise funds for the nonprofit Keep Our Pools that contributed $80,000 toward renovation of the Centralia Community Indoor Pool in 2013. They also provided his services to help raise money for Providence Centralia Hospital, Pope’s Kids Place and other local service providers. 

Their son, Aaron Parypa, is set to lead the auction portion of the Pope’s Kids Place Benefit Gala on Saturday, which his father led for more than 20 years before him. Aaron Parypa attended the same school as his father and Stokes in 2015 and works primarily as an automobile auctioneer.

A surprise party thrown in 1995 at Centralia College singled Joe Parypa out for his contributions to local nonprofits. Elected officials signed a proclamation designating Aug. 10 of that year as Joe Parypa Day. 

Ellen Parypa said going to charity or benefit auctions together served as date nights for the couple. She couldn’t recall him turning down an opportunity to give back until the Parkinson’s forced him to scale back.

“Being raised as a farm kid, he appreciated the young kids who were interested in agriculture,” Brenda Balmelli said. “He saw them as the future of the industry. Kids and grandkids of a lot of our customers raised the animals for those sales, and he wanted to make sure they got the most money they could get. He was always thrilled at the community support after every event.”

Those closest to Parypa expected a large outpouring of support from their communities following his death, but the response has been so great to leave them floored despite their expectations.

Mike and Marlene Seymour now live in Indiana, but plan to fly back to Washington for the memorial service. World champion auctioneers from across the country and from Canada are either going to show up in person or record short videos to be played during the service.

It’s been hard at times for family members and friends to carry on at the livestock market without Parypa around. Even as his health began to fade, Ellen Parypa said his passion and commitment to his craft never wavered. 

“I could sit in the sale barn, in the office, and hear him starting to sell,” she said. “I would close my eyes and it would feel as though there were nothing wrong with him. He never lost his voice.”