College to Dedicate Marshall J. Parker Auditorium on July 18

CONTACT: LINDA ELLIOTT, EXT. 1807

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 7/8/2003
(By Lisa Garrett)

PENDLETON -- Tri-County Technical College will pay tribute to one of its founding fathers when faculty and staff and the community gather to dedicate the Marshall J. Parker Auditorium in Oconee Hall on July 18.

Last year, friends and family of Senator Parker donated funds to name the auditorium in his honor. Senator Parker is one of the State Technical College System's founding fathers, a member of Tri-County's Foundation Board and a devoted College advocate and benefactor. The naming ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. with a welcome by President Ronnie L. Booth and will feature testimonial tributes by Earle E. Morris, Jr., former lieutenant governor; John M. Geer, chair of the College's Foundation Board; Senator Thomas Alexander; and retired College President Don C. Garrison. Senator and Mrs. Parker, along with Dr. Garrison, will unveil the plaque. The Parkers reside in Seneca.

Senator Parker's loyal devotion to the College began with the College's inception in 1962. He demonstrated his commitment to technical education through his tenure as State Senator (1957 – 66) and later through his service on the Foundation Board, which he chaired for four years. He remains an active member of the Board.

His leadership in developing the human resources of the Upstate provided the impetus for the establishment of Tri-County. In 1961 he and five other legislators comprised a committee that recommended that a technical college system be established on the premise that the "greatest single resource that South Carolina has with which to attract industry is its people." Senator Parker and his committee envisioned a system that would prepare South Carolinians for high-skill jobs and, in turn, these trained people would attract higher paying jobs to the State. He was one of three State Senators who filed a report with the General Assembly entitled "1961 Report to the Committee Studying the Needs of the State Development Board on the Subject of Vocational and Technical Training." The findings of the report resulted in the establishment of the South Carolina System for Technical Education.

Senator Parker served in the S.C. State Senate from 1957 – 66 and was chairman of the State Tax Study Commission for eight years. He helped, as a special committee member, to author legislation to revamp successfully S.C.'s Development Board to attract new industrial development.

A native of Seaboard N.C., he is a 1944 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was in the Marine Corps from 1943 – 46 and served in the Pacific during World War II. While a student at UNC, he met Martha Nimmons, whom he married in 1943. The Parkers had four children: the Reverend Alice P. Day, of Canton, NC, Susan P. Depass, of Columbia, Dr. Anna P. Williams, of Seneca, and Martha Barham Parker, deceased.

From 1946 – 47, Senator Parker was a standards and methods engineer for Dan River Mills, a Virginia textile firm, and for five years he served as president of Duncan Motor Lines, a common carrier operating in S.C. After serving as Associate Administrator for Procurement and Management Assistance for the Small Business Administration for a number of years, he returned to Seneca.

Senator Parker owned and operated a milk processing plant in Seneca for 31 years from 1950 – 1981. For the last two decades, he has devoted his time to farming.

In 1991 the late Senator Strom Thurmond honored his longtime friend and political associate by establishing a scholarship endowment fund in Senator Parker's name at Tri-County. Since then Senator Parker has made significant financial contributions to the College, including endowing scholarships and establishing an instructional/staff excellence endowment.

"Senator Parker's service exemplifies the commitment of an individual to his family, community and State," said President Booth. "Tri-County Technical College is part of the legacy of that service. We are grateful for the foresight that he and others showed over forty years ago in establishing the System and this College. This is but a small way of saying thanks for all that he means to the College and the community."
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