Francis McMillan Parks, former director of Students Offering Service and African American Programs in Hendricks Chapel and a beloved community storyteller, died on Jan. 12. She was 87.
Francis Parks holds a statue of American Folk musician Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten. (Photo by Stephanie Ellen Parks)
Parks grew up in Odessa, Texas. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was there that she met her future husband, retired Col. Donald R. Parks, a fellow student who was enrolled in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). After graduation, Francis enrolled in Clark University in Atlanta, Georgia, and completed a master’s degree. She and Donald married and she joined him for his military assignment in Germany. For many years they moved around the globe as a military family. During that time, Francis was a faculty member with the University of Maryland’s distance learning program.
The Parks family settled in Syracuse in 1981 so that Donald could work on a doctoral degree. Francis also became engaged in the life of the University, working as an instructor and advisor. She began her tenure in the University’s English Language Institute and then served as an academic advisor at University College. In 1992, she became director of Students Offering Service (SOS) and of African American programs at Hendricks Chapel. In that role, she served as a teacher, counselor, leader, activist, volunteer and storyteller. Her childhood during the start of the Civil Rights Movement shaped her as an activist, volunteer and constant promoter of social justice.
The programs she created and championed through SOS—from a blanket drive in the winter to a summer chess camp for kids from inner-city Syracuse, resembled the fabric of the quilts that she so lovingly worked to create, both individually and through the Hendricks Chapel Quiltmakers. Among the other programs that students participated in through SOS were Habitat for Humanity, International Young Scholars, the CROP Walk for Hunger, green-ups and clean-ups, Libba’s Place Coffeehouse, the annual Sojourner Storytelling Conference and holiday basket drives.
Parks also played a key role in establishing the annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at the University.
Parks always kept social conscience at the forefront of activities at Hendricks Chapel. She was known as a passionate cheerleader for students and colleagues alike, providing encouragement and nurturing when they needed it. And her connections with others were most often made in person.
Rachael Gazdick, CEO of New York Edge, met Parks 35 years ago. She served as assistant director of SOS and as director of Hendricks Chapel’s Office for Community Engagement and Integrative Learning. “Francis Parks taught all of us how to live passionately, love deeply, to cross boundaries, to listen to each other’s stories, and in so doing recognize that we are honoring each other’s humanity,” she says. “For almost two decades, the programs she developed challenged local, national and global injustices.”
“Mrs. Parks knew what it took to create a more just and caring society. She called all of us to tap into our gifts and talents and put them to good use in taking on our world’s most pressing issues,” Gazdick says.
After retiring from the University in 2007, she became a Francis Perkins Scholar at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. She joined that community as a student, living in a residence hall and continuing her research. “I always imagined being a pupil; one is a continuous learner,” Parks said in an interview with SU News in 2007 as she began her new journey.
“Francis Parks embodied the spirit and soul of Hendricks Chapel, and I am personally grateful for her kindness, wisdom and strength,” says Brian Konkol, vice president and dean of Hendricks Chapel. “We give thanks for all that she did, and we give thanks for all that she was, as her peaceful and powerful presence will forever be felt throughout our Syracuse University campus community and beyond.”
Parks is survived by her daughters, Stephanie Ellen Parks and Suzan-Lori Parks (Christian Konopka); her son, Donald Parks Jr.; her grandson, Durham Xavier, and a large community of family and friends.
Calling hours will be held Saturday, Feb. 22, from 10 a.m. to noon at All Saints Church, 1340 Lancaster Ave. in Syracuse. A funeral Mass will follow at noon. A celebration of life will be held in Hendricks Chapel in October.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Student Opportunity Fund at Hendricks Chapel.
