Hall Of Fame Member Parks Dies Unexpectedly

George Parks, widely known as an outstanding drum major, horn player, drill instructor and show coordinator with Reading Buccaneers died unexpectedly of a heart attack on September 16, at the age of 57, while traveling with his University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band to Ann Arbor to perform at a weekend football game at the University of Michigan.

He is survived by his wife Jeanne and two children, Michael and Kathryn.



He had been a member of the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame since 1993. He served in a number of roles with Reading Buccaneers from 1975 until 1987. He helped lead the Bucs to two Drum Corps Associates (DCA) world championships and received DCA?s top drum major award eight times. Known as the ?Mace-Bearing Professor,? he revolutionized the art of drum majoring. He dazzled drum corps audiences for many years with his high levels of showmanship, professionalism and his actions as a field general.  

 

He was the founder and president of the George N. Parks Drum Major Academy, an Applied Tuba professor, director of the Minutemen Marching Band and a music professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In 1989, he received the Distinguished Teaching Award. Other college-related awards included a Chancellor’s Medal for service to the campus and an Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Scholarly and Creative Activity. 

For more information about the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame, including biographies of members, nomination forms, an outline of selection procedures and information about the annual winter sunshine cruise in the Caribbean, open to all members of the public, visit the Web site at www.worlddrumcorpshof.org/