Parham Wilson Williams was born in Belzoni, MS on August 17, 1938, and passed into the presence of Christ on April 2, 2024 following a very brief illness. He was the youngest of three children born to Edwin Winston Williams, Sr. and Mary DeLoach Yeates, and he was very close to his sister Rosemary and brother Eddie all of their lives.
Parham graduated from Belzoni High School in 1957 and began his studies at Millsaps College, where he was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. Two years later he transferred to Mississippi State University where he was a member of the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity. He graduated from MSU in 1961 with a bachelor’s degree in Banking and Finance.
After graduating from MSU, he then began his six year tour of duty with the MS Army National Guard in Belzoni, and later transferred to the 210th Finance Section in Jackson. That was a new experience in his life, and he actually enjoyed basic training and later his monthly meetings and continued training. Simultaneously, he began his 39 year banking career with Deposit Guaranty National Bank and Trust Company in Jackson, MS in the officer training program. During that time, he became a graduate of the American Institute of Banking, where he was also a substitute teacher. He spent his first fifteen years with the bank in its Jackson location, acquiring the title of Senior Vice President, after which he was asked to make a career move, and he and his family moved to Monticello, MS where he served the next 24 years as President of Deposit Guaranty’s Monticello and New Hebron branch offices, and was a member of the Advisory Board. During that time, he became a graduate of LSU’s Graduate School of Banking. He retired in 2000 from AmSouth Bank, which had purchased Deposit Guaranty earlier.
It was during an earlier stage in his banking career while still in Jackson that one of his coworkers introduced him to her sister, Norma Ruth Cumberland from Preston, MS, who was a student at Millsaps College. That introduction led to a wonderful 56 year marriage and brought forth two beautiful and smart daughters, Kelly and Kristen. His love for Norma was one of the greatest testimonies in his life. They shared simple pleasures such as storytelling and reminiscing on past events that would sometimes erupt into side-splitting laughter. Their marriage was a rich and tender friendship, and each of them made the other better and complete.
After reaching his goal of working until age 62, Parham retired, and following 26 fruitful and eventful years in Monticello which they thoroughly enjoyed, he and Norma moved to Ridgeland, MS to be closer to Norma’s family. Later, Parham and Norma moved to St. Catherine’s Village in Madison, MS, where they lived the rest of their days.
During his time in Jackson and Monticello, he actively worked with various nonprofit and professional organizations, donating his time and energy. He was honored to have been asked to serve as president or chairman of several organizations, such as the Capitol Civitan Club, the state chapter of Muscular Dystrophy, the Lincoln/Lawrence Counties Red Cross Unit, the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce, the Lawrence County Industrial Development Foundation, and the Lawrence County Civitan Club, from which he received its Outstanding Achievement Award. He was chairman of the restoration committee for the Lawrence County Civic Center, which resulted in Monticello being named as one of two Mississippi communities to receive “Most Livable Community” awards. He also served 24 years as chairman of the Lawrence County Boy Scouts of America annual fund raising drive, for which the Andrew Jackson Council of BSA presented him with the Silver Beaver Award, its highest honor for a volunteer.
During his high school and college days, he always found summer jobs such as house painting, grocery store clerk and delivery boy, irrigating cotton, cleaning drainage ditches, and soda jerk. But the most interesting job he held was spent in Idaho with the US Forest Service fighting forest fires and eradicating a fungus that would attack and kill white pine trees. That was an experience of a lifetime.
His spare time and vacations while working at the bank were spent dabbling in watercolor painting and sculpturing, reading, following all MSU sports, restoring his 1930 Model A Ford Town Sedan and driving his 1929 Ford Roadster hot rod. It may not have been the fastest car in Lawrence County, but it surely was the loudest. He also enjoyed chauffeuring his daughters and members of their Brownie troops in his decorated Model A during Christmas parades. But his number one joy was spending vacations at the beach with his family and his brother’s family. He loved spending time with his wife and daughters above all. He became “Poppy” when his two granddaughters came along, and he then got to enjoy welcoming them into his lap to giggle over Sponge Bob and have a whole new audience for his stories.
Following retirement he continued to enjoy reading, following his beloved MSU sports, meeting with friends at two coffee clubs, following the news, and corresponding with folks on Facebook. He wrote and published a book entitled Zigzagging Through Childhood, which was a compilation of his childhood memories during the 40s and 50s in the Delta, and it created lots of excitement and interest in his beloved hometown of Belzoni, as well as among his family.
He was a study in contrasts. If you asked him what kind of music he liked, he would tell you classical, opera, bluegrass, rock and roll, gospel, flamenco guitar, and songs of the 40s and 50s. He was a fan of Mario Lanza since childhood. He liked anything old, such as antique furniture and cars. He had a good sense of humor and could continuously quote poetry from memory until you were too bored to listen anymore. He was open-minded and accepting, and has always said that he would support whoever was elected President, whoever the preacher was, and Ole Miss except when they were playing State. He was a shockingly obnoxious and boisterous presence at ballgames, whether MSU or Kelly and Kristen’s little league softball. He was proud of his two children and always said they “got their smarts from their Mom.” Parham was also proud of his Southern roots, having grown up in the Mississippi Delta.
If you are still reading this, then you have an experience of Parham’s detailed and thorough style of storytelling. While he could be admittedly long-winded and repetitive, at the end of the story you would quickly realize that you had just received a gift.
Parham loved the Lord, and for all of his life he belonged to a Methodist Church wherever he and his family were located. He grew up in the Belzoni Methodist Church, and in adulthood was an active member of Galloway United Methodist Church, Monticello United Methodist Church, and Ridgeland First United Methodist Church. Parham served on, if not chaired, every United Methodist committee there ever was, and one pastor after another expressed their appreciation for his leadership, integrity, and friendship. His favorite Bible verses were Psalm 103 and Philippians 4:6-7. Parham’s life served as a witness to the power of God’s love, forgiveness, kindness, and hard work. He was a loving, devoted, and selfless provider for his family. He had a wonderful life and was truly blessed, but he was ready to go and be with his Lord and Savior when called.
Parham was predeceased by his beautiful wife, Norma Ruth Cumberland Williams, his parents Edwin Winston Williams, Sr. and Mary DeLoach Yeates Williams, and his sister Rosemary Williams Cloughley and brother Edwin Winston Williams, Jr. Survivors include daughters Kelly Williams Black of Madison, MS and Kristen Williams Keary (David) of Jackson, MS, and granddaughters Sarah Beth and Sadie Black.
Parham’s family would like to thank the staff of St. Catherine’s Village for all of the loving kindness and gentle care and support they gave both Norma and Parham.
Memorials, if desired, may be made to the American Stroke Association online at https://www.stroke.org/en/ or the Dementia Society of America online at https://www.dementiasociety.org/donate-by-mail or by mail to PO Box 600, Doylestown, PA 18901, in lieu of flowers.
A visitation for Parham will be held Sunday, April 7, 2024 from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM at Parkway Funeral Home & Parkway Memorial Cemetery, 1161 Highland Colony Pkwy, Ridgeland, Mississippi 39157, followed by a funeral service at 2:00 PM.
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