JIM PARKIN

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Funeral for James A. "Jim" Parkin of Poplar Bluff was held Monday at First Baptist Church, with Dr. William Vail officiating. Burial was in Memorial Gardens Cemetery.

Cotrell Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Parkin, 82, died Friday, Sept. 22, 2000, at Methodist Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

He was born Dec. 31, 1917, in Butler County. He and Normia Dirickson were married April 2, 1954.

Parkin excelled locally and statewide in golf and bowling.

In 1954 he won the Missouri State Sand Greens Golf Championship in Columbia, Mo. In 1954 and 1961 he won the Busick Invitational in Jonesboro, Ark. He won the SEMO Golf Association Circuit championship six times.

Parkin was instrumental in developing all the Poplar Bluff High School state golf champions by sponsoring clinics and youth tournaments for at least 20 years.

He is the only person from Poplar Bluff ever elected to the Missouri Bowling Hall of Fame. In 1967 he won the Memphis Imperial Open, in 1974 won the Bob Allen Bowling Classic in Marion, Ill., and won the 1977 Greater Bowling Classic. He was a two-time champion of the Semipro Bowlers Association and the Southeast Missouri Bowling Association.

Parkin was a former owner and operator of Bluff Lanes and Parkin-Lanning Glass Co. He was a member of First Baptist Church and volunteer at the Christian Life Center, member of Elks Lodge, and life member of AmVets.

He was a drill sergeant in the U.S. Army during World War II.

Survivors include his wife; two children, Bjaye Parkin-Greer of Poplar Bluff, Judy Parkin of Cheboygan, Mich.; a brother, Earl Parkin of Poplar Bluff; a sister, Mary Thurman of Poplar Bluff; and two grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by two sons.