Mrs. Donna Jean Smarr Parks, 77, wife of the late Ernest Edward Parks Sr., passed away Friday, Dec. 16, 2022, at her home on Tangier Island. Born June 28, 1945, in Baltimore, she was the daughter of the late Grover Cleveland Smarr and the late Docia Franklin Smarr.
Throughout her childhood, Donna spent most of her summers on Tangier, where she met the love of her life, Ernest Ed. A few short months after she graduated from Sparrows Point High School, in Baltimore, they were married. Though Ern was captain aboard the tug, Donna captained the ship at home. Never one to let anything go to waste, Donna managed her household to the penny, could prepare a meal out of just about anything, and always kept her home organized and tidy. For many years, she was the island’s hairdresser and everyone knew if you wanted a good perm, you went to Donna’s. She enjoyed playing board games, loved a good western, and especially looked forward to visiting Ernie’s crab shanty.
Left to cherish her memory are her children, Ernie Parks Jr. and his wife, Rose, of Tangier, and Lisa Pusey, of Salisbury, Md.; sister, Cindy Wheatley, and her husband, Freddie Jr., of Tangier; brothers-in-law, Larry Parks and his wife, Millie, of Westover, Md., and Wayne Parks and his wife, Sarah, of Crisfield, Md.; grandchildren, Lewis Wheatley and his wife, Kristan, Olivia Pruitt and her husband, Brian, Trisha Wheatley and her fiancé, Brian, and Kayla Crockett and her husband, Nathan; great-grandchildren, Brandon, Peyton, Brody, Madi, Weston, Rowen, Elliott, Kelsey, and Kole; and several nieces and nephews. In addition to her husband and parents, she was predeceased by her brother, Charles “Butch” Smarr, and sister, Patricia Ann “Patty” Parks, who passed the same day as Ernest Ed, Dec. 28, 2020.
Funeral services will be held at the New Testament Congregation on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, at 2 p.m., with Elder Duane Crockett officiating. Interment will be in the Parks Family Cemetery.
Contributions in Donna’s memory may be made to the New Testament Congregation Missions Fund, c/o Faith Charnock, P.O. Box 266, Tangier, VA 23440.
Memory tributes may be shared with the family at www.williamsfuneralhomes.
