America, the Union League Club of New York City, the Auburn-
Duesenberg Club, and, yes, the Ithaca Yacht Club, which took him despite
him ruining their regatta when he first got his boat in the ’40s.
In addition to his work with the Presbyterian Church in Ithaca, he also
received the Ethel Nestell Forner Writer and Community Award from St.
Andrews (Presbyterian) College in Laurinburg, North Carolina, in 1991.
As one of ten winners of the 1971 Abe Lincoln Awards, presented
annually by the Southern Baptist’s Radio and Television Commission, he
was specifically cited for his outstanding utilization of his radio stations to
advance the quality of life in the communities they serve, as well as his
broad participation in the religious programming of interest to the
audience served.
Among the other honors he received was a special citation for
Distinguished Service to Agriculture in 1947 from the American Institute
of Cooperatives; a Distinguished Service Award from the Tompkins
County United Fund, 1961; a Life Membership Award from the Tompkins
County Chamber of Commerce, 1983; a Giants of Achievement Golden
Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement in 1984. In
1990, he was awarded the Broadcast Pioneers prestigious Golden Mike
Award for his flagship radio stations, WPAT FM/AM, serving the greater
New York City area. In 1982, he was also inducted into the North
Carolina Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
Again, on the lighter side, he was appointed a County Squire by
Governor W. Kerr Scott in1953; an Honorary Citizen of New Orleans by
its mayor, de Lesseps Morrison in 1958; an Admiral in the Great Navy of
the State of Nebraska by Governor Frank B. Morrison and an Honorary
Citizen of the State of Tennessee by Governor Buford Ellington in 1961.
In 1963, he was commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel by Governor Bert
Combs, and another governor of North Carolina, Terry Sanford, appointed
him to the Society of the Prodigal Son the following year.
DEEPER CONNECTIONS TO EDUCATION
North Carolina State University Soon after graduation, Roy H. Park
became involved in reactivating the NC State Alumni Association. “It was
slow going, and for the year 1932 the grand sum of all contributions
totaled $901.50. Of course, this was during the Depression and dollars
were hard to come by,” he said.
