Danny Cecil Parks

Danny Cecil Parks departed this life on Tuesday January 23, as a result of the Main Street fire in Rocky Top, Tennessee. Danny was born on March 19, 1955, in Washington, North Carolina, to a military family and was of the Christian faith. He was baptized as a teen at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Dutch Valley, Anderson County. Danny was the first child and only son of Carter and Bobbie Parks, raised with four younger sisters in an energetic and sometimes chaotic household with devoted, ever-present, and fiercely loving parents. He served in the U.S. Air Force after graduating from Lake City High School.

Danny was a retired landscaper who enjoyed working with plants and flowers, and he loved the natural landscapes, forests, hills, and valleys of East Tennessee. He was deeply loved by his extended family and friends and was known for his quick wit, joking manner, and mischievous, smiling eyes. Danny was a long-time resident of Lake City (now Rocky Top), where he developed deep and caring roots for his friends and beloved community. He served for decades as a coach, umpire, and organizer of youth sports and adult softball at the Lake City Ball Field.

Mr. Parks was preceded in death by his father, Carter O. Parks, and brother-in-law, Michael Ray Bunch, both of the Dutch Valley Community; grandparents, Cecil C. Parks and Arpie Sisson Parks of Laurel Grove; and Al Chrismon and Clorine Isley Chrismon of Bath, North Carolina; as well as several aunts and uncles from Tennessee and North Carolina.

Left to grieve are his mother, Barbara C. Parks of Clinton; son, Preston Parks (Kylo) of Knoxville; daughter, Barbara Ellen Parks (Bryen) of Clinton; grandchildren, Za Parks, Ducky Julian, Tate Julian, and expectant granddaughter, Anna Parks; sisters, Seaira Parks Stephenson (Brad), Angie Parks Bunch, Regina Parks McCallister (Dennis), and LaVerne Parks. He is survived by a host of nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins from Tennessee, North Carolina, Louisiana, and other locales.

The Parks family gratefully acknowledges the outpouring of support and condolences from first responders, law enforcement, and the Rocky Top and Clinton communities after Danny’s unexpected and tragic death. Jones Mortuary in Clinton, Tennessee is in charge of arrangements. Receiving of Friends is planned for Sunday, January 28^th in the chapel of Jones Mortuary from 1 to 3 PM with the service to immediately follow at 3 PM. Interment is planned for Monday, January 29^th at 2 PM at Clinch River Baptist Church in Medford.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you consider supporting the other victims of the Rocky top fire who tragically lost everything they owned as they fled the rapidly advancing fire.  Danny loved his neighbors, and our thoughts are with the other families who are left to rebuild their lives after this disaster.