Hazel Leone Parks Parry

Hazel Leona Parks Parry, broud of her Welch heritiage and Presbyterian faith, was born on 26 October 1915 in Buffalo, NY, the oldest of 3 children. Her siblings were Horace Charles (Bus) Parks and Mildred 'Millie' Viola Parks Rost. Her parents were Horace Parks of Buffalo NY (1879-1967) and Erie Leona Woodley Parks (1885-1976) of Vila Nova, Ontario, Canada. Maternal Grandfather Charles Dean Woodley of Waterford, Ontario married Rachel Slaght in 1881, then they moved to NY in 1898. Paternal Grandfather Horace Parks married Annie Zimpfer and they lived in Buffalo NY. The Zimpfers hail from Baden & Wurtemburg, Germany. The Parks are from Oneida County NY. Her Kinsey and Gwillen ancestors are from England/Wales. Her 9th Great Grandfather, Cornelius Sleght, is from Utrecht, Netherlands.

In 1920, Hazel and her brother Horace Jr, lived in Colden, Erie, NY with her mother Erie's parents Charles and Rachel Woodley. Her Grandfather was a dairy farmer and her father a Yardmaster at a Steam Railroad.

In 1930, her family lived in Orchard Park NY where her father Horace worked for the NP Railroad. Her mother Erie had immigrated from Canada in 1911 from Ontario Canada, and Erie's mother Rachel Woodley and Horace's mother Anna lived with them and the three children aged 6, 12 and 14.

Hazel grew up in Orchard Park, Erie County NY, and attened Ohio Wesleyan University, graduating in 1937. She studied Sociology and was a member of Sigma Kappa, the Debate Club, the Elections Committee and Varsity Debate.

In the 1940, at 24, she worked as a bookstore clerk with her parents and younger siblings in Orchard Parks, NY, where her father was a Railroad Yardmaster. Later, Hazel worked as a school teacher for special education and the hearing impaired in Atlanta and Pickens Sounty GA. and she married Howell John Parry in 1942. In 1943 and 1945, her children, Elizabeth and Howell 'Jack' were born in Missouri and New York.

In 1950, they family lived in Fort Kobbe, Panama Canal while her children were young ( 7 and 4) and she worked as a nursery school teacher, probably on the Military Base. They evenually moved to Austell, Georgia.

In 1963, Hazel and Parry's daughter Beth married Edward Lanier Patterson Jr, of Porterdale, Georgia. Hazel and Parry welcomed their two grandchildren, Tracey Leigh in 1969 (who attended Agnes Scott College and became a German language teacher--she married Stephen Sisk in 1994) and Dina Patrice in 1972 (who attended College of the Atlantic and became a Retailer and a Banker -- she married Jimmy Holsomback in 1999). In 1995, Beth married Frank Carney in Birmingham Alabama, Hazel's new son-in-law.

Parry and Hazel were blessed with four Great Grandchildren: Promise Holsomback in 1999, Ian Sisk in 2000, Polly Holsomback in 2002 and Jeremy Holsomback in 2003. In 2001 Frank's daughter Laura with grandchildren Susanna and Adam Basappa moved to Birmingham and they became Hazel and Parry's step grand and great grandchildren.

Their son Jack Parry married Juanita 'Nita' Fisher in 1968 . They lived in Atlanta, Richmond VA and Annapolis Maryland. Jack served in the Navy.

Hazel was a founding member of the New Lebanon Presbyterian Church in Jasper Georgia. She and Parry frequently visited Beth, Dina and Tracey, spending holidays with their grand and great grandchildren.

Hazel's husband Parry passed away in 2004 in Austell, Georgia.

Hazel died at age 94 on 22 Feb, 2010, also in Austell, Pickens County, Georgia. Her service was conducted by the Davis-Struempf Funeral Home in Austell.