[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24418]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      IN MEMORY OF MARSHALL PARKER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 20, 2008

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, on Saturday, November 
15th, South Carolina lost a distinguished statesman with the death of 
former State Senator Marshall Parker of Oconee County.
  A thoughtful tribute to his courageous service was published November 
18, 2008, in The State newspaper of Columbia, South Carolina, 
professionally authored by John O'Connor.

                    [From The State, Nov. 18, 2008]

   One of First Elected Democrats Who Later Ran as a Republican Dies

                           (By John O'Connor)

       Marshall Parker, who helped blaze a path for state 
     Republicans in the 1960s, died at his Oconee County home 
     Saturday. He was 86.
       Parker was among the first elected Democrats to run later 
     as a Republican, twice losing U.S. Senate contests against 
     Ernest ``Fritz'' Hollings in 1966 and 1968.
       Parker was born in Seaboard, N.C., but was first elected to 
     the Seneca City Council and Oconee County Board of School 
     Trustees before winning a state Senate seat in 1955. Parker 
     served a decade in the S.C. House.
       ``He taught me about working hard,'' said grandson Burl 
     Williams, who frequently mended fences at Parker's farm. ``He 
     had a presence...you could see people looked up to him.''
       In 1966, Parker decided to become a Republican and 
     challenge friend and former colleague Hollings for the U.S. 
     Senate seat left vacant by Olin Johnston's death. The race 
     was decided by several thousand votes, with some of Parker's 
     supporters believing he had won.
       ``If that race had gone another few weeks, (Parker) might 
     have won it,'' said Crawford Cook, who worked on both 
     Parker's and Hollings' campaigns. ``There were none any 
     tougher than that first one.''
       Parker believed his role in creating the state technical 
     college system was his most important accomplishment, friends 
     said. Others also credited him as an example for those 
     switching to the Republican Party.
       Williams believed that Parker, as a dairy farm owner, 
     understood early that the Republican Party better matched his 
     ideals.
       ``There were people who stood up and were candidates even 
     though they couldn't win,'' said Crawford Clarkson, a former 
     Parker campaign chairman. ``He was a sterling individual; an 
     absolutely incorruptible politician.''

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