Wynn is a native of Eastern NC. He lived most of his life in the Northern town of Roanoke Rapids. Through out his early years Wynn always enjoyed visiting the family farm way down east in Hyde county. This is where his Grand father, Henry Lee Swindell and over time his Uncle Mike and Ronnie took over the farm until their retirement in the late 90’s. Over these years Wynn spent summers helping a little on the farm, when in high school he worked at Hyde Quality Seed for his Uncle Barry cleaning and processing “NC Certified” wheat and bean seed.
After Graduating from Mattamuskeet High School Wynn joined the US Army to be a Ranger. After attending Basic, AIT, and the US Army Airborne School at Fort Benning he, as a newly minted Airborne Infantryman, Wynn went to the Ranger Indoctrination Program. Unfortunately he did not make the cut and headed off to Germany and the Third Infantry Division. While stationed in Germany Wynn made many life long friends and experiences that would change his life. After completing a two year tour he reapplied to attend RIP and was accepted. After returning to CONUS (Continental United Sates) and attending RIP he was assigned to the 3rd Ranger Battalion at Fort Benning. After a short stint with the Rangers he left after deciding not to reenlist in the Army.
After the Army Wynn attended Beaufort Community College and Pitt Community College on the GI Bill. While at Beaufort Wynn learned to weld and eventually went to work for Hackney in Washington, NC. Deciding to go back to school he applied and was accepted to PCCC where he learned about computers and networking them. After becoming comfortable with computers and working for Computer Geeks for a while Wynn moved back to Hyde county to try his hand at being a Corrections officer. While waiting to start with the NC DOC, Wynn got a part time job working at Internet of Beaufort (Back in the dial up days) doing tech support. Eventually he became the Operations Manager over Internet of Beaufort, Roanoke, and Albemarle.
During this time Wynn was still in the National Guard and made the decision to return to Active Duty in the Army. After a bit of work he was able to make the leap to Active Duty and was assigned to the MIGHTY 82ND AIRBORNE!!! While stationed at Fort Bragg Wynn was apart of B Co, of the 2/325th AIR. This assignment was one of the best experiences of his life. The friends and connections made there have stood the test of time.
After leaving the army A second time Wynn was offered a job with his good friend Earl Goesswein with his soon to be named company Mid-Atlantic Cable Solutions. There he learned to splice television cable. Off and on for a few years Wynn worked with Earl before getting into the home construction business. Once again back with his Uncle Barry, Wynn learned all aspects of home construction. Eventually he would return to work with Earl and now began to learn underground cable construction using a directional boring machine. He styed with Earl for some time until he was made an offer he couldn’t pass up.
Command Sargent Major (Retired), Wynn’s former First Sargent from the 82nd, contacted him about an opportunity he could hardly pass up. Some 9 years after serving with CSM Sasaki contacted Wynn about a project that he was working on with another former leader Wynn had served with in good old B Co. BIG Sarge, Fred Silhol, the once squad leader of SGT Parkinson. This project was produced to help train soldiers to be more aware of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices). Wynn couldn’t pass up on this opportunity to once again serve those who serve. Now, at the time, almost 10 years of Global War on Terror was taking its toll on Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines in both Iraq and Afghanistan, This Mobile Counter-IED Interactive Trainer or MCIT trained service members to be more likely to survive an encounter with an IED. Once this mission was complete Wynn once again found himself in Hyde county working with Uncle Barry.
While working once again building homes around Eastern NC Wynn was able to reconnect with a friend from the past…. Brittany Smith. After a time of dating an opportunity and the beginning of the next chapter in both their lives would begin.
The opportunity was for Wynn to go to work at Haslin Farms with Brittany’s dad and Wynn’s soon to be Father-in-law. After almost 10 years Wynn and Brittany are being given the opportunity to start their own farm. With the generous offer from Harold and Susan Smith of Haslin Farms Wynn and Brittany have rented a portion of the farm currently managed by Harold at Haslin Farms. They are both excited at the opportunity this provides.
Wynn and Brittany were married soon after Wynn started working on the farm and about a year later they were blessed with their first child Charlie Ann. About two years later their son Edwin Oliver Parkinson V (yes that is a 5) or Quinn was born.
Brittany is also a native of North Carolina where she grew up on and around Haslin Farms. She graduated from Pungo Christian Academy and then Attended East Carolina University where she received a Degree in Interior design and Business Management. After finishing school she worked for Coverings by Design before venturing out on her own to start her own business called “Out of the Box Designs”. After a while Brittany decided to return to Belhaven to peruse other opportunities.