University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Mourns The Loss Of Band Director George Parks
September 17, 2010 | Athletics Department
Sept. 17, 2010
George Parks, the 33-year director of the UMass Minuteman Marching Band, passed away Thursday night while traveling with the band in Ohio. Parks and the band were staying overnight in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio on the way to Ann Arbor, Michigan for Saturday's football game. Parks will be remembered for his tireless dedication, enthusiasm and passion for the Marching Band and each of its members - past and present.
Message From Chancellor Holub:
To the Campus Community,
It is with the heaviest of hearts that we write to inform you that George Parks, director of our Minuteman Marching Band, died last night while traveling with his beloved students in Ohio in preparation for this weekend's football game in Michigan.
This is an extraordinary loss. George's devotion to excellence, his creativity and his passion for teaching inspired us all and shaped the lives of thousands of students during the three decades that he directed The Power and Class of New England. Truly, he represented the best of UMass.
We extend our deepest sympathies to George's family, his legion of friends and everyone associated with the band. In the coming days, we will share additional information as plans develop to honor George. Updates will be posted on the UMass homepage.
Let us all pull together in the coming days and demonstrate the spirit that George exemplified with such pride for so many years.
Robert C. Holub
Chancellor
James V. Staros
Provost
MassLive.Com Story
George N. Parks, for 33 years the director of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Minuteman Marching Band, died suddenly Thursday at age 57 while traveling with the band in Ohio.
Parks and the 350-member band were staying overnight in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, en route to Ann Arbor, Mich., where the University football team was scheduled to play the University of Michigan on Saturday.
Band members reported that Parks died following a band performance Thursday night. Besides serving as director of the band known as The Power and Class of New England, Parks was professor of music at UMass. He received the university's Distinguished Teacher Award and the Chancellor's Medal for Distinguished Service. He was named an Honorary Alumnus of the University of Massachusetts.
After serving as drum major for the West Chester University Golden Rams Marching Band, graduating from West Chester University, and receiving his graduate degree from Northwestern University in tuba performance, Parks became director of the University of Massachusetts band in 1977 at the age of 24.
A tireless fund-raiser, Parks was the driving force behind the $5.7 million Minuteman Marching Band Building, currently under construction. The new building is named in his honor.
Under Parks, the band became one of only 27 collegiate marching bands nationally to receive the Sudler Trophy given by the John Philip Sousa Foundation.
