(Ed. note: The following was written by Earl Cagle Sr. about his friend and colleague, Morris Parks. Parks, who was a member of several local civic groups and a founder of the Gilmer Historical Society, passed away last month at age 86.)
What can you say about a man who walks into a room and everyone listens before he speaks?”
Those are not my words. They first appeared on a certificate Morris Parks gave to me on July 9, 1999, when he was president of the Gilmer County Genealogical Society.
This is an appropriate time to use the same language to describe Morris, much more fitting for him than me.
I knew Morris in high school. We never had any interaction in those days, him being two years older.
Later, when I was working at Lockheed, I went to the tool crib to get some drill bits. Who steps up to assist me? Morris Parks.
When I had moved away and would return to visit, I found that the U. S. Postal Service was blessed with Morris and him having “boots on the ground,” so to speak.
My youngest daughter related that, while she was staying with her grandmother on Spring Street, she always looked forward to getting his deliveries to help her grandmother.
Not only was Morris the man about town, he was the man that involved himself in numerous organizations that supported public causes. He busied himself in the Oak Bowery Masonic Lodge, Ellijay Lions Club, Royal Arch, York Rite, Coosawattee Shrine Club, Scottish Rite and Yarrab Shriners.
Many years passed during which I would notice his activities in the Times-Courier, and participation and realize how fortunate Ellijay and Gilmer County were for his time and efforts.
In February 1995, a meeting was held and the word went out.
The citizens responded, volunteers stepped forward and The Heritage of Gilmer County 1832-1996 (a reference book published by the genealogical society) was on its way.
Morris had stepped forward along with several more and the “purple book” came to fruition in 1996.
Not already having their hands full, most of the book committee members became members of the genealogical society, which had been chartered in the spring of 1995. Officers were elected, and Morris was the first vice president.
It was during our association in the genealogical society that Morris and I became good friends, each knowing he could count on the other.
With one book following rapidly one after the other, we found that storage space became a concern. Morris was instrumental in working out arrangements with Ellijay First Baptist Church to use some of their storage building space.
The society planned a homecoming for descendants of Gilmer County residents that had migrated to Long County years before.
The morning of the homecoming, we were getting ready to leave when the phone rang. I started to not answer it, but went back in. I can still hear that slow, no-emotion voice say, “Earl, the storage building with our books burned last night.”
Morris’ call was the prelude to a totally new effort for the genealogical society — replacing our inventory. Luckily, I had insured the inventory just a few months before.
In true genealogical society spirit and fortitude, we recovered.
Morris was a great asset when representatives from the Ellijay/Gilmer High School’s decade of the ‘50s established an envied reunion, “Classes of the ‘50s.” It went on for several years.
I can’t remember Morris Parks in those years with the genealogical society without remembering his fellow members and their dedication. There are too many to name here. Many of them are gone, leaving us with memories of who we were and what we did.
Gilmer County is indebted to Morris Parks and those of his ilk who built on the foundation laid by their pioneer ancestors.
I count Morris among my dearest friends and admire him as “a son of Gilmer County.”
By Earl Cagle Sr., Gilmer Genealogical Society