The original Magleby's Restaurant was started by David "Doc" Parkinson, a retired dentist with a passion for life. Doc's friends and family describe him as outgoing, generous, funny, and spontaneous. For over twenty years, Doc has been greeting Magleby's customers at the door with world-famous bread sticks and a warm welcome. Doc and his wife Lenora have been married for almost 50 years. Lenora's wonderful dessert recipes have made Magleby's spread of homemade desserts legendary.
doc on motorcycle

Doc is an avid motorcyclist who has put about 400,000 miles on his three Honda CX500 motorcycles - that's about 16 times around the world. Doc's unconventional rules of the road include never riding at night, never eating indoors, and never sleeping in a motel.

"I know every paved road and every mountain pass in the five states that surround Utah," said Doc. "There's so much I want to see. I just ride, ride, ride. I might want to go 600 miles a day when other riders want to go 250 to 300, then go to a nice motel. I'd rather just throw a sleeping bag on the ground, so I can ride from sunup to sundown."

Doc's son Richard manages Magleby's newest concept, Magleby's Grill and Oyster Bar, which opened in early October 2004 in Provo's Shops at Riverwoods. doc and his son RichardRichard said his dad has always been a little bit nuts. "One time when I was about 12 years old, my dad and I tried to play as many holes of golf in one day as we could," Richard said. "We ended up doing 127 holes that day."

Pushing the limits and achieving excellence have been hallmarks of Doc's life - not only in physical, but also in spiritual ways. When Doc's granddaughter, Holly, played tennis for BYU, Doc was known to write the letters "WWCD" with a black marker on the hands of Holly and her teammates. The letters stand for "What Would Christ Do."

Doc believes that in life's sweetest victories as well as in life's most hollow defeats, you've got to always have your priorities in line. Still, he was always willing to sweeten the deal for Holly and her teammates at BYU tennis matches. "If you gals win, there's free desserts afterwards at Magleby's."