JAMES G. PARKS

Wasilla resident James Gordon Parks, 75, died peacefully July 9, 2004 at the Azure Crest Assisted Living Center in Wasilla.

No services will be held for Mr. Parks.

Mr. Parks was born Sept. 9, 1928, in Libertyville, Ill. He spent his childhood in Omaha and Hastings, Neb. He moved to Chugiak with his parents and sister in June 1944. He went to school in Anchorage, where he obtained his general equivalency diploma.

Mr. Parks served in the Army from 1950 to 1952 at Fort Richardson. He then worked on a barge that plied the water along the Aleutian Islands. He was also a truck driver for a time, and in 1966 he worked at Instant Print, the print shop his parents owned, as a pressman. Later, he took over the business from his parents upon their retirement. He also helped his ex-wife with her Copy Craft business in Palmer.

Mr. Parks belonged to the American Legion Jack Henry Post #1 where he served as the post commander. He also held memberships in the Moose, Elks, VFW and the AMVETS clubs of Alaska.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Justine M. Parks, on Dec. 13, 1994; his father, Cloyce W. Parks, on Oct. 2, 2001 and his daughter, Donna Kocur of Texas.

He is survived by his sister and her husband, Virginia and Doyle VanMatre of Big Lake; his companion and ex-wife, Agnes Parks of Wasilla; sons, James G. Parks II of Anchorage and Larry Kocur of St. Mary's; daughters, Dianne Berry of Washington and Beverly Bibeck of Anchorage; nephews and their wives, Justin and Ruth McCarroll of Big Lake and Leland and Helen McCarroll of Willow; nieces and their husbands, Kathleen and Eddie Trent and Pamela and Dale Snelson; five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Arrangements were made by Valley Funeral Home & Crematory in Wasilla.