Charlie Park remembered as a servant leader with a big voice and a bigger heart
Photo: Charlie Park (right) with a young friend at the 2011 Millard Fuller Legacy Build in Minden, Louisiana.
Charlie Park’s voice was booming, yet soothing. It was a voice cultivated in broadcast journalism and later leveraged in preaching the Gospel through the Theology of the Hammer, inspiring countless volunteers and donors to build and repair homes throughout Webster Parish, Louisiana.
Park would lead The Fuller Center of Webster Parish from 1999 to 2012, having first begun volunteering with the organization in 1991 when it was a Habitat for Humanity affiliate. He led the group’s transition from a Habitat affiliate to a Fuller Center covenant partnership in 2007 and the hosting of the 2011 Millard Fuller Legacy Build. In 2018, The Fuller Center of Webster Parish’s 55th home build was dedicated as “The Charlie Park House.”
Park died peacefully on Sunday after an extended illness. Fuller Center for Housing President David Snell today released the following statement on Park’s passing:
The Fuller Center lost one of our giants with the passing of Charlie Park. He was a dedicated believer in Millard Fuller’s vision of eliminating poverty housing. He brought the Fuller Center to Webster Parish in 2007 and was the driving force behind one of our most successful Millard Fuller Legacy Builds, which saw the creation of a whole neighborhood of new homes.
A couple of things defined Charlie to me. One was his complete faith in God, in our ministry, and in himself. He was very much like Millard in that regard. The second was his get-it-done approach. No challenge was too large, no detail too small. And of course, there was his voice. Some might say that he was born to be on radio, but I’m truly grateful, though, that he was called to The Fuller Center instead.
The world would be a better place if there were more Charlie Parks in it. He’s left us now, to take his place among the righteous. May our memories of him inspire us to even greater things.
RELATED LINK:
2012 Q&A with Charlie Park upon his retirement: “21 years of happy moments”
CHARLIE PARK PHOTO GALLERY:
3 Comments
What a wonderful tribute to a really wonderful man who was a great servant of God. What a blessing he was to The Fuller Center for Housing and to the community of Webster Parish, and what a difference he made in the lives of others. OYEE, CHARLIE PARK!
I was blessed to have met him. During a build in, I believe, 2008, Keith Schuler and I stayed at his plantation. What a wonderful, kind hearted host. I will never forget his passion for helping others. Thank you Charlie Park. You have changed my life more than you could know.
Millard and I had been away from home for nearly a week building some of the first Fuller Center homes in Shreveport. A small band of people led by Charlie from the nearby town of Minden. He had arranged a meeting with Millard because he wanted to deliver an invitation for him to speak at a breakfast meeting on our already all day drive back to Americus. We were reluctant but Charlie’s enthusiasm and insistence prevailed. The thing was Charlie had been at the core of an active Habitat affiliate. Now, that group wanted to transition to a Fuller Center. When we stopped for that breakfast meeting, Millard and I were surprised to find that Charlie, wife Dee and others had assembled a large number of diverse and eager Minden citizens.This simple breakfast meeting became the “launching pad” for one of the most active and successful Fuller Center Covenant Partners in the country. All the while, everyone was aware of Charlie’s health struggles but he refused to allow this to slow progress of building homes for families in need. Two years after that memorable breakfast in 2007, Millard left us suddenly. Charlie wanted to do something he knew would please and honor Millard’s memory. So under Charlie’s dynamic leadership, the Fuller Center of Webster Parish hosted a hugely successful Millard Fuller Legacy Build. My prayer and wish – Rest In Peace, Charlie, as you settle into your much deserved Heavenly Home.
My condolences and love to Dee, his family, friends and co-workers in FC Webster Parish.