Sharon Joyce Callis Parks, 1949-2012

During my first and second years of teaching, I had the privilege of working with a phenomenal woman! Sharon had such joy! She had a passion for teaching children to sing and to enjoy doing it! She also had a passion for spreading the Word of God to as many people as she could, especially those who didn't know about it! During my first year of teaching, I was sick a lot. That same year, my grandmother passed away unexpectedly. The school at which Sharon and I worked was just a few blocks from my grandmother's house, so it was a weekly thing for me to stop by to see Grandma before heading home for the evening on the nights I worked there. Sharon was with me the moment I heard the news that my grandmother had died. The following year, my very first baby was stillborn at 37 weeks. Sharon was one of the faces I saw most often up in the hospital. She was such a support for me through many dark times in my life.

We both moved on to different schools following that year, but we kept in touch. She was in her final year of teaching before she was to retire and she got word that she had cancer. The cancer was abdominal, but that was all she knew. Later it was determined to be ovarian cancer. She was devastated. She fought though and was able to endure treatments going into remission just a year later. At that time, she retired and had started to make plans to move closer to her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. This last summer, her house went up on the market and sold within the first week for the asking price (which is amazing considering the current market). She went ahead and went down to Texas to start moving in while her husband stayed behind to close on the house. Just before she left, she got word from her doctor that the cancer had returned. She was very quickly put in the care of a doctor in Texas who determined that she now had brain cancer as well as the returning abdominal cancer. She fully intended to fight some more, but the brain cancer required surgery rather quickly. The surgery left her very weak. She also had lost the ability to form vocabulary words. Very soon after, she had a bowel obstruction due to the abdominal cancer. At this point (which was just a few short weeks ago), she decided that resistance was futile. She made the decision to no longer receive treatment for her cancer. Plans were made to keep her as comfortable as possible, teach her family how to best care for her, and live the remainder of her days surrounded by the ones she loved in her apartment. Last Thursday, Sharon had a seizure. Her organs had began failing. She started to retain fluid. Today, she went to be with the Lord!

I rejoice in the fact that she is no longer in pain and that I will see her again some day! I rejoice in the fact that I was blessed to be called her friend in her time here! She had such an infectiously joyful personality (although a "closet cusser" as she called herself particularly when driving). She had a desire to share the Word of God with anyone who needed it and especially those who did not know about it! (She passed along the Gideon Bibles up until she was no longer able to, even in the care facility in which she spent her remaining days.) I pray for Sharon's family as the grieve her death. I know that my Babe B. has already run to her and welcomed her to sing in the choir of angels! I know she has scooped my little girl up in her arms and given her all of the hugs that her mommy as so desperately been saving for her. Thank you, God for bringing Sharon into my life! Thank you for the opportunity to learn so many things from her!

From left to right: Don, (Sharon's husband), Tamera (daughter-in-law), David (son), Sharon, Nathan (son), and Nathan's wife.

"Take my life, and let me be a living prayer, my God to Thee!"

From "The Living Prayer" by Ron Block, Sang by Alison Krauss

In Him,
The Hutchins Family