Paul Parham's Obituary
Paul was born on March 2, 1933 in St. Louis, MO and received his primary education there. He received his A.B. in history from Princeton in 1954, and his M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri in 1971. He enlisted in the Army immediately after his graduation from Princeton and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, the rank he held at his retirement from military service in 1975. He served in a variety of command and staff positions, including service on the Army General Staff in Washington and Chief of Public Affairs, Sixth U.S. Army, Presidio in San Francisco. Following his military retirement, he worked briefly for the Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce as Communications Manager. Shortly thereafter, he became the Director of Communications for ALSAC-St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a position he held from 1976 until 1995. He received many local, regional, and national awards for film, video, radio and print productions. He was a writer and the editor/producer for all materials used by Danny Thomas in ALSAC-St. Jude programs from 1995 to 1991. He served as Chairman of the Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce’s Military Affairs Council, President of the Memphis Chapter Public Relations Society of America, and as a member and vice president of River City Concert Band for many years. Professional honors included the Professional Communicator of the Year in 1994 and numerous others. Following his retirement from ALSAC-St. Jude, he continued to do volunteer work for St. Jude as the archivist, and for his church, St. John Orthodox Church, as its business manager for 15 years. He was predeceased by his wife of 36 years, Corinne Lees Parham. He is survived by his sister DeAnne Thorn, his niece Christine Ferguson, both of Birmingham, AL, and his long time and best friend Barbara Nevins. Paul was a prince of a man, caring, generous, highly intelligent, well-educated, humble, totally devoted to his Christian faith, and a man of genuine integrity. Those who knew him to any degree were better for the experience, and they already miss him much. Memorial contributions can be made to St. John Orthodox Church or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Ave. Memphis, TN 38119, (901)767-8930, “Behind the Stone Wall”.
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