Parsons joined the U.S. Navy gaining experience in aeronautical engineering; Founder/Partner, Ralph M. Parsons Corporation, Pasadena, CA, 1944-1974; Parsons Corporation was purchased in 2004 by Worley (founded in 1971 as Wholohan Grill and Partners), a North Sydney, NSW, Australia-based construction firm; it became known as WorleyParsons Group in 2004;

Parsons received a two-year degree in machine design;

Parsons married twice.

Ralph M. Parsons was a noted philanthropist; according to the Parsons Foundation web site: "In 1961, he founded The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation as the charitable giving arm of his company. On his death, he left the Foundation 600,000 shares of Parsons Company stock and $4 million in cash. In 1976, two years after he died, the foundation became fully independent of the company, with which it now shares only Mr. Parsons’ name. The Foundation has no financial interest in the company. In 1978, the Foundation made another transition from giving to just a few designated recipients to inauguration of a multidisciplinary grantmaking program." (SeeAccessed 10/19/2009)