A memorial service was held at the First Presbyterian Church at 1 pm, Friday, October 29, 1993, in Ithaca. The burial was private with the immediate family only. The family requested contributions to the charity of one’s choice in lieu of flowers. But there were plenty of flowers anyway, as is usually the case.
Jim Whalen, president of Ithaca College, gave the eulogy at my father’s service. He was one of my father’s closest friends; his remarks are in Appendix F, Eulogy from a Friend.
The obituary in USA Today stated the annual income from his Park Communications empire was $160,000,000 and went on to say that “Park, who collected antique cars, rare watches, and French provincial office furniture, made his first media purchase in 1962—WNCT TV and radio stations in Greenville, NC. In keeping with his philosophy of ‘We don’t sell, we only buy,’ Park still owned them at his death.”
In the final paragraph, the newspaper reported, “There has been no decision about a successor. President and Chief Operating Officer, Wright Thomas, said in a statement on behalf of the board that ‘Park built a sound organization that will carry on.’ ” (Unfortunately, it didn’t, and was sold within a year.) As reported in the Raleigh News & Observer on Wednesday, October 27, 1993, “Raleigh friends of 50 and 60 years standing who mourned his loss Tuesday characterized him as a steadfast friend and a workaholic who took far more pleasure in working and doing business than in money.”
Tributes to memories of my father from friends, associates, educators, and people from all walks of life flowed in from around the country. Many are reported in Appendix G, Memorial Tributes.
Several years after my father died, my mother passed along to me the following piece. I don’t know if she had it before Pops died, or after, but different versions of it are attributed to both Mother Teresa and Dr. Kent M. Keith. But I thought this version, which borrowed from both as seen in Footnote 52 seemed to pretty much capture the best in my father, and I guess she thought so, too. It’s entitled, “Anyway.”
People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for some underdogs anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People really need help but may attack you if you help them. Help them anyway. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you’ve got, anyway.