Gloria Parks
Gloria Faye Thompson Parks, 72, of Chattanooga, was called home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in the Hospice Care Center.
She was born on October 10, 1950, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She was the third of ten children born to Rev. Charles William and Ida Mae Thompson. Gloria accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior under the Pastorate of Elder James D. Williams, while attending Greater New Home Missionary Baptist Church. She continued to faithfully serve in various ministries including Deaconess, Greater New Home Mass Choir, and Finance Ministry under the Pastorate of Elder G. M. Spotts, until the Lord called her home. She was always willing to help with anything, and she was loved by everyone. During her earlier years, Gloria was a long-time resident of the Fort Cheatham community and was educated in the Chattanooga Public School System. In high school, Gloria was an avid reader and conscientious in her studies. She had a particular interest in art and greatly excelled in this vocation. Gloria was a proud graduate of the 1969 Class of Riverside (Trojans) High School. She continued her education at City College (now UTC) excelling in the arts. Gloria was always very studious and was heralded by her parents as the most mature and responsible among her siblings. Her parents were very instrumental in ensuring she was well-equipped to support herself, and she was oftentimes entrusted the responsibility of driving her siblings to school and other events. She loved her dogs and spent a lot of time enjoying each of them. Gloria was a long-time employee of South-Central Bell and a manager at Richway now Target, from which she later retired. She was always on the go and oftentimes you could find her volunteering at her beloved New Home Church. Gloria had a remarkable aptitude for technology, leadership and learning new skills-including photography, researching, cooking/baking, reading, artistry, writing cookbooks, caregiving, gardening, financing, and ancestral genealogy. Her financial and technological savvy were known and appreciated throughout Chattanooga, and she never missed an opportunity to help innumerable friends and family with their income tax returns, creating a directory for her church, as well as photography. If she didn’t know the answer or how to do something, she would pound through mounds of information to find a solution.
Gloria was preceded in death by her husband, Theodore Davis Parks; parents, Rev. Charles W. Thompson and Ida Mae Thompson; brothers, Kenneth L. Thompson and Robert Anderson; grandparents, Savannah Rutledge, Charlie Thompson, and Rufus and Mozelle Anderson; aunts, Minnie (Eddie) Wilkerson, Mary (Ba’Ruth) Anderson, Ruby (William) Hall, Sylvia A. Leslie; and brother-in-law George Gregory Elliott.
Survivors include her sons, Kelvin (Tyenece) Parks of Apopka, FL, Terrence (Catrice) Parks and Tremayne Parks, both of Chattanooga; grandson, Dinari Parks; granddaughters, Whitney (Jerome) McLaughlin of Atlanta, GA, Olivia (Greg) Walton of St. Louis, MO, Jordyn Parks of Apopka, Amaicia Thompson of Chattanooga and April Myers of Round Lake, IL; great-grandchildren, Avery McLaughlin, Oliver Walton, Zen Walton, Sedona Walton and Callie Brooks; brothers, Michael (Betty) Thompson of Chattanooga and Charles (Sharon) Thompson of Newport News, VA; sisters, Sharon T. Parks, Carolyn T. (Bishop Dr. Mark) Sandilands, Rhonda J. Jackson, Pamela T. Jackson, and Cynthia Thompson Ward, all of Chattanooga; uncle, Alonza “Lil Bro” Anderson; aunt, Valerie Anderson of Chattanooga; nieces and nephews, Kimberly Thompson, Darryl (Faith) Thompson, Yolanda (Robert) Finney, Demetrius Scott (Tiki) Carter, Stephen Jackson, Timothy (Tekaill) Williams, Antoinette Lynn Frye, Geanno (Magnolia) Thompson, Dextric (Trace) Thompson, Corey L. Thompson, Shauniqua Jackson, LaTasha Jackson, Mandel Jackson, James Darrell Ward, Jr., Anesha Thompson, Marcus High, Mario Sandilands, and Megan Sandilands; sisters-in-law, Twilla (Robert) Lewis of Gary, IN, Gloria Warren, and Deborah (Gregory) Tate of Chattanooga; brothers-in-law Otis Elliott, Aaron (Sandra) Elliott, and Jerome Elliott; special friend, Airine Butts; a host of other relatives and friends.
Gloria will lie in state on Tuesday, June 27, from 12:30-5 p.m. at Taylor Funeral Home.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, June 28, at noon at Greater New Home Missionary Baptist Church with Elder G. M. Spotts as the eulogist.
Burial will be in Chattanooga National Cemetery.