Fr. Jon Parks, SDB, Rest in Peace (1949-2010)

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Fr. Jonathan Parks, SDB who passed away this morning. He will be greatly missed. Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.

The following was written by Father Michael Mendl, S.D.B.

Fr. Jonathan D. Parks, S.D.B., pastor of St. Rosalie Catholic Church in Harvey, La., since 2004, died on July 11 at West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, La., after a months-long illness. He was 60.

Father Parks, the son of Charles and Elaine Weicks Parks, was born in New Orleans on Sept. 26, 1949, and raised in Gretna, La., where the family attended St. Joseph’s Church.

Father Parks was introduced to the Salesians when he attended Archbishop Shaw High School in Marrero, where he was in the second graduating class (1967). Strongly influenced by the Salesians who taught him, especially Father Paul Avallone, the school’s first director and principal, he entered Don Bosco Seminary in Newton, N.J., where he professed his first vows as a Salesian on Aug. 15, 1969.

Father Parks earned a Bachelor’s degree from Don Bosco College in Newton in 1972 and was assigned as a teacher at Archbishop Shaw High School for two years; he taught U.S. history and religion.

In 1974 he enrolled in the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, for theological studies. He earned an M.Div. and was ordained to the priesthood on May 19, 1978, in Columbus. After ordination he served young people and the Salesians as a teacher and school administrator in Cedar Lake, Ind. (1978-1979), Ramsey, N.J. (1979-1980 and 1988-1990), Tampa (1983-1988), Don Bosco Tech, Boston (1980-1983), and St. Dominic Savio High School, East Boston (1990-1993, 2001-2004).

After earning a doctorate in educational administration/superintendency at Boston College in 1996, he was appointed superintendent of schools for the Salesians’ Eastern U.S. Province in 1999 and served until 2004. Father Parks also was vocation director for the Salesians from 1983 to 1984 and 1993 to 1996, and associate pastor of St. Rosalie Church from 1996 to 2001.
He was a frequent speaker at the National Catholic Education Association, and member of various boards including the National Religious Vocation Conference, and Cafe Hope in Marrero, La. He was a member of the presbyteral council of the archdiocese of New Orleans and a consultant to the Office of Education of the archdiocese.

Former Salesian provincial Father James Heuser said of Father Parks: “"The West Bank of New Orleans gave us a gift in Father Jonathan, with his strong sense of family and friendship, and an effusive and joyful Southern style. It blended well with the warm relational approach advocated by Don Bosco. In these last years he returned to the West Bank and was a gift to them, enriching so many who struggled through hard times with his priestly zeal and simple devotional faith. Greatly loved by many, he will be greatly missed.”

A former teacher at Don Bosco Tech in Boston, Jack Sullivan, wrote to Father Parks early in July to assure him of prayers and to tell him: “You were a bright light shining at the Tech when you were there. . . . You were a straight shooter with your teachers. If they did something you thought was inappropriate, you told them and then it was forgotten. …[Of] all the Salesians that were principal at the Tech, …YOU were the most balanced and therefore, the most successful in carrying on Don Bosco's vision.”

Father Parks is survived by his twin brother Joseph Anthony Parks of Pineville, La., his younger brother Kenneth (Iona) of Virginia Beach, Va., and his sister Christine (Raymond) Fleming of Gretna; stepsisters Charlene Landes and Eileen (Rusty) Vucinobich and stepbrother Charles (Susan) Parks Jr.; nephews Conor Parks and Kevin (Amy) Marmillion and niece Janet Lambert; and grandnephew Kenneth Lambert Jr.

Funeral arrangements are pending. Father Parks will be buried in a family plot in Westlawn Cemetery in Gretna, La.