Gordon Isaac Parks (1911 - 1985)

Gordon Isaac Parks, also called "G I" and " Parky," was born on Apr 28, 1911, in Plemmons, Hutchinson County, Texas, USA. The oldest and first child of William Roscoe Parks and Cora Elizabeth Mathews. Sibyl Drucilla was his younger sister. He died at King's Daughter Hospital, on Jul 25, 1985, in Temple, Bell, Texas. When he was 25, he married Edna Marie Berg, daughter of Eddie Berg and Anna Marie Dotson, on Jun 11, 1936, in Texas. Gordon Isaac Parks lived in the Hutchinson and Moore Counties in Texas from 1920-1962. He owned and operated plumbing companies between 1948-1962 in Dumas and Borger, Hutchinson, Texas.

Gordon and Edna were hard-working and very active people. He was a deacon in the First Baptist Church. She always saw that her children had something new to wear for Easter Sunday church services. Gordon was called "G.I." or "Parky" by his friends; he enjoyed coaching Little League baseball and was well-liked and joked with everyone. He was, however, a hard taskmaster.

He insisted that his sons, Gerald and Steve, got a journeyman's plumber license while in high school and was determined they get a college education. Edna operated and owned the A&W Drive Inn and Borger Lanes, a favorite bowling alley with a cafeteria. She also kept the accounting books, payroll, taxes, etc., for all three businesses, including Borger Plbg & Heating, co-owned with Edna's brother.

Gordon and Edna fixed up or built homes; they moved at least ten times between 1950-1962. In later years they enjoyed life, spending time with their daughter in Samata, Sulawesi Selatan, Indonesia, and Lybia. Finally, they enjoyed lots of fishing on Lake Powell, Arizona.

Edna's debilitating disease of ALS overshadowed Gordon's last seven years. He was supportive and loving during this horrible time for the family. On Dec 18, 1978, he was a widow in Borger, Texas. He died on June 25, 1985. The cause of death was a cardiopulmonary collapse in 1985. He was buried on Jul 27, 1985, at West Lawn Memorial Park, in Borger, Texas.

Gordon Isaac Parks and Edna Marie Berg had the following four children:

1. Dolores Ann Parks was born on Oct 13, 1937, in Dumas, Moore, Texas. She married William Henry Dorsett in about 1960 in Borger, Texas. She married William Justice Horton on Nov 30, 1991, in Bexar, Texas. Dolores died unexpectedly of a rare disease called Wegener's granulomatosis, respiratory failure, on Jul 23, 2017. Her son, James "Jimmy" Dorsett, died Feb 27, 2016.

2. Gerald Gordon Parks was born in Dumas, Texas, on Aug 2, 1942. He married Deanna Louise Carpenter in 1965. They adopted Deanna's two boys and had two boys of their own.

3. Stephen Edward Parks was born at Moore County Hospital on Nov 29, 1943, in Dumas, Texas. He married Michael John Krauchenko on Aug 6, 2013, in California. This union began in May 2000.

4. Kitty Sue Parks was born on Nov 10, 1946, in Amarillo, Potter, Texas. She died on Jun 29, 1985, in San Antonio, Bexar, Texas. She died in a one-car accident speeding on a Texas highway late at night, hitting a grove of trees. She died at the hospital that night. Kitty married Robert Gaiser on Feb 22, 1964. Their only child Robert was killed in a traffic accident in San Antonio, Texas Feb 14, 1984.

At the age of 68, Gordon married Jean Malone on Jun 2, 1979, in Burnet, Texas. When he was 70, he married Gladys M Reynolds on Jun 6, 1981, in Burnet, Texas. When he was 71, he married Velma Ashcraft on Nov 14, 1982, in Round Mountain, Blanco, Texas. Later marriages result from trying to find happiness and not be alone. There were no children in these marriages.

He did not fight for life after developing lymphatic cancer.

Funeral services for G.I. Parks, former Borger resident who died Thursday morning in Temple, will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in Brown's Chapel of the Fountains with the Rev. Gordon Mitchell, associate pastor of the First Baptist Church officiating. Burial will be in Westland Memorial Park, Borger, Texas, under the direction of Ed Brown & Sons Funeral Directors.

(Published in Borger News Herald, July 26, 1985)

(G I Parks) Gordon Isaac Parks was born on Apr 28, 1911, near LeFors and Plemons, Hutchinson County, Texas, USA. The oldest and first child of William Roscoe Parks and Cora Elizabeth Mathews. Sibyl Drucilla was his younger sister. He died at King's Daughter Hospital, on Jul 25, 1985, in Temple, Bell, Texas.

When he was 25, he married Edna Marie Berg, daughter of Eddie Berg and Anna Marie Dotson, on Jun 11, 1936, in Texas. Gordon Isaac Parks lived in the Hutchinson and Moore Counties in Texas, from 1920- 1962. He owned and operated plumbing companies between 1948-1962, in Dumas and Borger, Hutchinson, Texas.

Gordon and Edna were hard-working and very active people. He was a deacon in the First Baptist Church. She always saw that her children had something new to wear for Easter Sunday church services. Gordon was called "G.I." or "Parky" by his friends; he enjoyed coaching Little League baseball and was well-liked and joked with everyone.. Edna operated and owned the A&W Drive Inn and Borger Lanes, a favorite bowling alley with a cafeteria. She also kept the accounting books, payroll, taxes, etc. for all three businesses, including Borger Plbg & Heating, co-owned with Edna's brother. Gordon and Edna fixed-up or built homes; they moved at least ten times between 1950-1962. In later years they enjoyed life, spending time with their daughter in Samata, Sulawesi Selatan, Indonesia.

Edna's debilitating disease of ALS overshadowed Gordon's last seven years. He was supportive and loving during this horrible time for the family. He was a widow on Dec 18, 1978, in Borger, Texas. He died Jun 25, 1985, the cause of death was a cardiopulmonary collapse in 1985.

He was buried on Jul 27, 1985, at West Lawn Memorial Park, in Borger, Texas. Gordon Isaac Parks and Edna Marie Berg had four children.

After Edna his first wife died there were three other marriages, no children by these marriages: Jean Malone June 2, 1979, Gladys Reynolds June 6, 1981, and Velma Ashcroft Nov. 14, 1982.