Joe B. Parks

Ancestors

Son of James Allen Thompson Parks and Mary Florence (Youngblood) Parks

Descendants

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Biography

Joe B. Parks was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

Descendant of Nan-ye-hi/Nancy Ward.

Joe was born in McAlester, OK on December 15, 1915 to the Rev. James A.T. Parks, a Cherokee and Florence Youngblood, a white woman from Mississippi. ^[1] As the son of a Methodist minister, he lived in over fifteen towns in Oklahoma.^{[2] [3] [4] [5]} He attended Oklahoma A&M College ( now Oklahoma State University) , earning a B.S. in 1939. While at A&M he developed a computerized student registration system using punch cards. After graduating he moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the Coal Board, but his interest in computing soon led to a job with IBM. He married Florence May Evans on Oct. 25, 1941. They were the parents of two daughters, Anne and Kathryn. Joe served in the Army Medical Corps as a supply officer during WWII, attaining the rank of Major, and was awarded the Bronze Star. He worked for the VA and other government agencies, retiring from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. After moving to New Hampshire in 1975 he served eight years in the state legislature.

A lifelong plantsman, he hybridized and patented more than 20 varieties of rhododendrons, maintained a nationally- recognized garden, wrote a gardening column, and taught gardening. He was also an artist, an inventor, train buff, woodworker, and Arctic traveller. The Joe B. Parks Riverwalk Garden in Dover, N.H. was dedicated in his honor in 2008. ^[6] Joe died on March 31, 2010 and is buried at Pine Hill Cemetery, Dover, N.H. ^{[7] [8]}

Sources

1. ↑ Birth certificate, State Department of Health, State of Oklahoma
2. ↑ U.S. Federal Census 1920 Census Place: Britton, Oklahoma, Oklahoma; Roll: T625_1473; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 97; Image: 155.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XC7C-R33 : accessed 12 May 2019), James A Parks, Welch, Craig, Oklahoma, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 24, sheet 2A, line 6, family 29, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1899; FHL microfilm 2,341,633.
4. ↑ "Oklahoma, School Records, 1895-1936," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2FX-54VK : 17 March 2018), Joseph Parks, 1927; citing School enrollment, Atoka, Atoka, Oklahoma, United States, multiple County Clerk offices, Oklahoma school district offices, Oklahoma; FHL microfilm 2,208,851.
5. ↑ "Oklahoma, School Records, 1895-1936," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2FD-WT7C : 17 March 2018), Joseph Parks, 1931-1932; citing School enrollment, Craig, Oklahoma, United States, multiple County Clerk offices, Oklahoma school district offices, Oklahoma; FHL microfilm 1,290,552.
6. ↑ garden
7. ↑ obituary
8. ↑ State of New Hampshire Certificate of Death

• Paternal and Maternal relationships are both confirmed by an autosomal AncestryDNA test match between Kathie (Parks) Forbes and L.W., her 1st cousin . Their most-recent common ancestors are James Parks and Mary Youngblood, the grandparents of both Kathie (Parks) Forbes and L.W.. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: First Cousin, based on sharing 1102 cM across 36 segments.

• See also:
• Social Security Death Index
• Autobiography, 'Odd Man Out' (available at Amazon)