Elsie Rebecca (Smalley) Parks
April 12, 1902 — August 15, 2008
Mt. Pleasant, Mississippi
ELSIE REBECCA SMALLEY "MAMMY" PARKS, resident of Mt. Pleasant, MS and former resident of Fayette County, died at 4:25 P.M. Friday, August 15, 2008 at the Trinity Mission Health Center in Holly Springs, MS, where she had resided for four years. She was 106 years of age and was one of the area's oldest citizens.
Funeral Services for Mrs. Parks were conducted at 2 P.M. Sunday, August 17, 2008 at the Mt. Olive Baptist Church in the District Fifteen Community of Fayette County with the Rev. Don Hammonds, Pastor of the Church, officiating. Interment followed in the Mt. Olive Cemetery.
Mrs. Parks was born April 12, 1902 in Hardeman County, Tennessee, the daughter of the late P.M. Smalley and the late Adeline Echord Smalley, early residents of the Hardeman-Fayette County areas. She was married on December 3, 1921 to Howard Herman Parks, who died February 18, 1972. Mrs. Parks was a homemaker throughout her life and was a resident of Fayette County and Memphis before moving to Mt. Pleasant, Mississippi to reside in her daughter's home, "Twin Belle Farms", in 1988.
She was a devoted Baptist throughout her life and at the time of her death, was the oldest member of the First Baptist Church at Mt. Pleasant. She was honored on her 105th birthday with a community celebration and luncheon with the mayor and other city officials honoring Mrs. Parks on her longevity and dedication to her family, church and community.
Survivors of Mrs. Parks include her daughter, Franchelle Hilliard of Mt. Pleasant, MS; five grandchildren: Burleigh Michael Parks, Randal Dean Parks, Pennye Parks Thompson, Rebecca Hilliard Bourgeois and Sandra Hilliard; and a number of great and great-great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her son, Burleigh H. Parks in 1993.
Those honored to serve as casketbearers were Billy Clark, Berry Thompson, Andrew Parks, Adam Parks, Hascel Smalley, Mike Clark, Floyd Stainback, Jewell Shearon, Mike Parks and Travis Fawcett.
The family requests that memorials be directed to the Mt. Olive Baptist Church Christian Activities Center, 9580 Jernigan Drive, Somerville, TN 38068, Phone: (901) 465-6053; or to the Mt. Olive Cemetery Association, C/O Emily Joyce Douglas, Treasurer, 514 Oak Street, Somerville, TN 38068, Phone: (901) 465-2682.