Jim Parke, 71, Dickinson, died Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at his home. To celebrate Jim’s life there will be a gathering of family and friends from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Friday, June 18, 2021 at the Stark County Veterans Pavilion, Dickinson. Military Honors will be provided at 3 p.m. by the Dickinson American Legion Post 3 Honor Guard.
Jim Parke was born on April 15, 1950 in Fargo. April 15 is notable for the day when Abraham Lincoln died, the Titanic sank and income taxes are due. His father, Clarence Parke, was a Command Sergeant Major in the Army and his mother, Donna (Greicar, then Parke) Fleming, is a respected and well-liked English Teacher. After living and schooling in Pisek, ND, Monterey, CA, Mayville, ND and Grand Forks, ND his family moved to Dickinson when he was a sophomore. His was the last class to graduate form Dickinson Central High School in Hagen in 1968.
He spent five quarters of college at Dickinson State and transferred to North Dakota State, graduating with a B.S. Degree in Chemistry in 1972. He entered the Army through ROTC and became the best helicopter pilot in the world, but after four years found out that it took a longer time to be a General than he expected, and so left the Army and entered and graduated from the University of Washington in 1978 with another B.S. Degree, this time in Forestry—with the objective to be a flying forester and ranger in Alaska.
During his stint at UW, and for several years after graduation he worked at the Seattle Parks and Recreation as a computer expert and operations director for both the Recreation Division and the Seattle Aquarium. He married Cheryl (Simms), a landscape architect he met at school, and on May 18, 1980, the day Mt. St. Helens blew up, they started a landscape design/build firm called Shades of Green Landscaping which grew and prospered for 28 years and died in the Great Recession of 2008 due to circumstances beyond their control. One of the consequences was divorce in 2010.
Through a two year course of study and qualifications earned at Seattle Parks, Jim had earned the designation of Certified Financial Planner in 1994, so he came back to Dickinson to work with his brother Mike at Mike Parke Investment Management. This led to a stint as an economic and community affairs coordinator at Roosevelt-Custer Regional Council and then to a job as project manager for the partial renovation of Woods Hall on the DSU campus. His final work was as co-owner of Yard Guys with Paul Herauf, and their primary work was installing irrigation system.
Jim loved hunting and fishing, scuba diving, whitewater rafting, golf and being involved with local issues. He especially loved Dickinson and Dickinson State University. One of his proudest moments was being named Honorary Letterman at DSU several years ago. He tried to live life following two principles; one was the golden rule, and the other was to leave this place better for your having been here. His favorite saying was, “If you ain’t having fun, you’re doing it wrong”. His hero is mom, Donna, who after being a good Catholic and having four children by the time she was 21 decided she had to make a better life for her children, finished her teaching degree at Mayville in two years and three summers, became a master teacher, and made them what they are today.
Jim is survived by his only child, Jamie (Kroeger) who is his favorite daughter and the Center of his Universe. She is married to a wonderful man named Lee Kroeger and together they have three boys-Peyton, Ethan and Grant. Jim is immensely proud of this family, its commitment to and love for each other, its accomplishments and its potential, and is humbled that they are related to him.
Jim is also survived by his mother, Donna Fleming, his brothers, Mike (with son Dan), Allan (with his wife Stella and sons Chris and James), Will Fleming (with son Billy), his sisters, Michelle (Fleming) Johanson and her husband Paul Johanson, and Kim (Parke) Knight and her husband Mark (with their children Michael, Cody, and Jacob). Another brother, Randy, Mike’s wife Karen, and his father, Clarence passed before him.
Jim never did make it to Alaska and always joked that it was good to have all that education so he could pursue manual labor as a career. What satisfied him (well, of course owning his own company and a good income was part of it!) was a job well done and especially building ponds and waterfalls, which required a great deal of ingenuity and innovation. Shades of Green was also a seasonal firm, which allowed Jim and Cheryl to spend time on the island of Kauai, Hawaii where they had many friends, who they thoroughly enjoyed in addition to the warm weather and many activities available.
Jim left us on June 1, 2021 to reunite with old friends and family and begin new adventures discovering his God and the universe and its workings. And he’ll see all of you one day again.
GO HAWKS!
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the Jim Parke Memorial Scholarship at Dickinson State University.
