A Grandpa, a Grandma, and an Empty Nest Filled with Leather

John is the oldest of 10 children and grew up in Wilson (now West Haven) Utah. His first memories were of riding through cattle in front of his dad. John grew up in a family feedlot and meatpacking business. He started tooling leather when he was 8. Since then, John has given countless friends and relatives the gift of hand-tooled leather. He constantly strives to improve his technique and expand his collection. He has teamed up with his wife of 43 yrs. to create one-of-a-kind heirloom-quality leather goods. John has concentrated these past several years on improving his technique and acquiring new patterns and ideas. He has taken classes from some of the world’s greatest leather masters. His leather goods have reached a new dimension of artistry as shown by his customized work. John has a degree in accounting and is the IT manager for an international forage company. He has served for most of his life in volunteer church and civic positions.

Konnie grew up in Plain City, Utah, and is a retired RN Public Health Emergency Planner for the State of Utah. She held a special interest in emergency preparedness since her experience in Washington D.C on Sept. 11, 2001. She retired in 2014.

John’s love of tooling leather and Konnie’s love of crafting merged into John Parke Leather Art / John Parke Custom Leather in 2019. Konnie does finishing work on John’s tooled projects as well as making leather jewelry. They have filled their extra empty bedrooms with leather, tools, a huge leather sewing machine, and jewelry-making stuff!

John and Konnie met when they were 5 years old and their lives have been intertwined since then. They have been married in 1977, raised four sons, and are the grandparents of 15 grandchildren along with many adopted grandchildren.