George Parks

Obituaries

Wednesday, 16 June 2021 05:33

George David Parks passed away on Friday, June 4, 2021 after a three-year battle with renal cancer. A celebration of life was held on Saturday, June 12, 2021 at Otter Creek Church in Brentwood.
George was born on Friday, May 20, 1949 in Scottsboro to Albert and Eva Parks. An excellent student, George was selected as a National merit Scholar and chosen by his peers as most likely to succeed. As a teen, he and his older brother, Bill, worked in the Scottsboro bus station, running the kitchen and stocking the comic books that George read thoroughly while Bill usually worked. He also helped out at the family business, Parks; Department store, selling men’s clothing.
He attended David Lipscomb College in Nashville and graduated with a degree in chemistry in 1971. In 1969, he worked as a summer intern for NASA during the first moon landing and after graduating with honors, was awarded a fellowship in the German Academic Exchange program to study chemistry at the University of Heidelberg from 1971-1972. Upon his return to the U.S., he completed his Ph.D. in chemistry from Rice University.
George married Vicki McCluggage in 2001, and they retired to Nashville in 2008 to be near children and grandchildren. George and Vicki’s blended family of five children blessed them with nine precious grandchildren. They enjoyed travel and discovered river-cruising in Europe, taking many trips that he enjoyed planning almost as much as he enjoyed experiencing. They were active with Otter Creek Church of Christ. In recent years, George enjoyed working as a volunteer coach with the Brentwood Academy Middle School robotics team and was given the Mentor of the Year award by the program in 2018.
George is survived by his wife, Vicki; brother, Bill Parks; children, David Parks, Ben Parks, Sarah Parks Duncan; stepchildren, Clay McCluggage, Amy McCluggage Tate; grandchildren, Josie, Jenna Nora Callie, Ava, Lilla, Helen, Albert, David.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Christian Scholars; Conference through Lipscomb University in Nashville.