Napoleon “Charles” Parks

Funeral services for Napoleon “Charles” Parks, 69, Lawrence, KS, will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, August 20, 2011 at the First Presbyterian Church in Lawrence, KS.  Burial will follow in Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence.  Pastor Leo Barbee, Jr. will be the officiant.  He died on Friday, August 12, 2011 at his home in Lawrence.

He was born on November 9, 1941 in Lawton, OK, the son of Clemmie Charles & Ruby Wilson Parks.

Charles graduated from Lawton High School and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education and a Master’s Degree in Administration from Wichita State University.

He taught four years in Wichita before moving to Lawrence and working as an assistant principal at Lawrence High School from 1971-1998 and Lawrence Free State High School from 1998 until his retirement in 2004.

He was a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha social fraternity.  He served as a board member for the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Board and the Douglas County Visiting Nurses Association.

He was an avid golfer and gardener. He loved cooking, playing poker, and entertaining family and friends.

Charles married Ella M. Myers on August 8, 1970 in Wichita, KS.  She survives of the home.

Other survivors include a daughter, Gale Marie (husband, Michael) Turner, of Lawton, OK, two sons, Charles Clifton Parks, of Omaha, NE, Terrance Victor Parks, of Overland Park, KS, a sister, Linda (husband, Gordon) Piper, of St. Louis, MO, a granddaughter, Brittini Turner, Lawton, OK, a grandson, Tyson Miles Baldwin-Parks, of Overland Park, KS and a host of other relatives and friends.  He was preceded in death by his parents.

The family will greet friends from 6-8 p.m. Friday, August 19, 2011 at Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence.

The family suggests memorials in his name to the Grace Hospice and may be sent in care of the mortuary.