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Earnest George “Pa” Parks, 93, the oldest of five sons born to the late Walker Park and Minnie Buzan Park, passed away suddenly while at the VA Hospital in Tucson on Dec. 23, 2015. He was born in Tucson on Aug. 1, 1922.
He is survived by his wife Katherine; two daughters, Mary McCool (Ken) and Betty Finch (Neil), and a son, Ernest Jr (Karen). There are six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren; one brother, John; and many cousins, nieces and nephews also survive.
His family moved to Dudleyville when he was a youngster. He attended elementary classes at Hayden Junction and graduated from high school at Hayden in 1941. Shortly after graduation Earnest joined the Navy and served as a boatswain’s mate during World War II. He was the pilot on small landing craft that put marines onto beaches all over the South Pacific. Earnest was extremely proud of his military service and even as a senior citizen would have re-enlisted in a heartbeat. It was during his Navy service, that a typographical error occurred in his official paperwork and his last name was changed from “Park” to “Parks”. Near the end of his Navy enlistment, he came home on leave and married Mary Katherine Ortkiese, a local girl whom he had met while she was a high school student in Hayden. In November of 2015, they completed the 70th year of their marriage.
In 1957, with a young family, Earnest returned to the Hayden/Winkelman area, and went to work at the Kennecott reduction plant. He remained there until his retirement in 1983. He became a supervisor in 1959 and really enjoyed the technical challenges that were often presented. Outside of his day job, Earnest served as a Boy Scout leader, operated a welding shop, and taught welding for the local community college. He was an expert fabricator. He and his wife were also active in an equestrian trail riding club. Pa loved horses and would have given anything to have been able to live the “cowboy” lifestyle.
In the 1980s, after his home in Winkelman was damaged by flooding, he and Katherine moved away eventually settling in Tucson to be closer to kids and grandkids. Earnest was very interested in his family’s genealogy and put together an extensive history of the Park and Buzan families. He also re-established contact with quite a few of his Navy buddies and traveled to several of their reunion gatherings.
Pa was very proud of his kids and grandkids. He lived long enough to see all of the grandchildren reach adulthood and have families of their own. He was always very interested to hear about everyone’s activities and projects. His family will miss him greatly.
Funeral services are pending the opening of the Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Marana.
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