GEORGE PARKS

ANNA, Ill. -- George Edwin Parks, 94, of Anna died Sunday, June 2, 1996, at Union County Hospital in Anna.

He was born Jan. 28, 1902, in Anna to George C. and Carrie Rich Parks. He was married in 1923 to Ruth Barringer, who died in 1969. He married Ruth Barr in 1970, and she survives.

Parks was a retired pharmacist and had operated Parks Drug Store in Anna for 47 years. He was a 1922 graduate of the University of Illinois. He became a stockholder of Anna National Bank in 1954 and served as president and chairman of the board before retiring in 1995.

He served on the board of the Anna Industrial Corp. and later the Union County Economic Development Committee. In the 1920s, he was instrumental in bringing to Anna the International Shoe Co., later succeeded by Florsheim Shoe Co. Parks recently served on the Southernmost Illinois Prison Committee, which successfully brought a maximum security prison to Tamms.

He was active in the Red Cross, Bald Knob Cross committee, Anna-Jonesboro Rotary Club, Kornthal Church Committee, Elks Lodge and Moose Lodge. Parks was a 60-year Mason, served for many years as secretary of the Stinson Memorial Library and was active in the Shawnee Library system.

An author and historian, Parks penned the three-volume "History of Union County" and also wrote "Footprints of the Presbyterians," a history of the church in Union County. He taught a course at Shawnee Community College on the history of Southern Illinois.

Parks was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Cobden.

Survivors include his wife; two stepdaughters, Areta Joines and Jane Hooe, both of Newman; six grandchildren; and 10 great-step-grandchildren.

Friends may call from 4-8 p.m. today at Hileman & Parr Funeral Services in Jonesboro.

The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home, with the Rev. Richard Ryman officiating. Burial will follow in Anna Cemetery.