PARISH, Mr. John M., age 87, retired newsman and former press secretary to Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, died December 10, 2010. Native of Ft. Worth, TX, the seventh of nine children, he attended public schools of Ft. Worth & Southeastern Louisiana College in Hammond. LA where he met and married his wife. He lived in Tennessee since 1948 and has been a resident of Franklin since 1979. He served in the Navy during World War II. He was associate editor, political writer and columnist at The Sun and was chairman of the Capitol Press Corps while coving state government for his newspaper. He was associated with The Jackson Sun newspaper for 25 years before joining Gov. Alexander's cabinet as press secretary in 1979. After serving eight years as Gov. Alexander's press secretary, he was named executive vice president of the Tennessee Business Roundtable. After retiring in 1989 he continued his association with the Roundtable for 18 years as a consultant and edited a monthly newsletter for the organization. In Jackson, he was president of the Goals for Jackson in 1972-73, chairman of the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Urban Renewal, exalted ruler of B.P.O. Elks Lodge 192, and a member of the Stadium Committee for 17 years. He was a scoutmaster and a Little League baseball coach. Active in the Episcopal Church, he & his wife were youth directors at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Jackson for 17 years and a lay reader and vestryman at St. Luke's. He was a junior & senior warden on the vestry at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Franklin where he was a lay reader, server and chalice bearer. He has been a delegate to the Diocesan Convention several times, including one to elect a bishop. Member of the Tennessee Press Association Committee that drafted the state's Sunshine Law, was secretary and chairman of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance from 1990 to 1995, board member and president of the Williamson County Literacy Council. Served a two-year term on the American Express Senior Advisory Board. As a newsman, he covered state politics for nearly three decades and wrote a daily political column for ten years. He reported government affairs from the county courts and city commissions to the state legislature and constitutional conventions and the national conventions of the Republican and Democrat parties. During his tenure as press secretary, his operations were recognized by the National Governors Association as one of the nation's best and was called on to conduct seminars for newly elected governors and press secretaries. In his retirement years, Mr. Parish's interests turned to genalogy and he wrote family history and published three family newsletters that were distributed to his numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. Preceded in death by parents, Millard & Ruth Wilkerson Parish; brothers, Kenneth, Gilbert & LaVerne Parish; sisters, Elizabeth Parish, Lois Duppstadt & Marjorie Felder & son, Charles Alan Parish. Survived by: wife of 65 years, Lucile Deavours Carter Parish; sons, Michael (Susan Kincaid) Parish, Knoxville, TN & Joe (Dr. Hye Jung Kang) Parish, Liberty SC; sisters, Doris Warren, Dallas, TX & Virginia Phillips, Ft. Worth, TX. Memorial services will be conducted 2:00 PM Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Rev. Robert Cowperthwaite officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. In lieu of flowers, we suggest the following memorials, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Ruth Parish Scholarship Fund (through the Methodist Conference of Texas at Houston) or Williamson Co. Animal Shelter, Franklin, TN. WILLIAMSON MEMORIAL FUNERAL HOME, 615 794-2289. www.williamsonmemorial.com
Visitation Details
Wednesday, December 15th, 2010 1:00pm - 2:00pm, St. Pauls Episcopal Church
Service Information
Wednesday, December 15th, 2010 2:00pm, St. Pauls Episcopal Church