Donna Lee Parks, age 69, of 18 Saint George Street, Saint Augustine, Florida, passed away on Sunday, January 24, 2016, at the Specialty Hospital of Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Florida. She was born on Friday, March 22, 1946 to Richard Lee, Jr. and Mary Belle (nee Chilton) Parks at the Florida East Coast Railway Hospital in Saint Augustine, Florida.
Donna graduated from Saint Augustine High School in 1964 and for forty-seven years owned Donna's at 127 Saint George Street. Donna bought the business in 1969 when it was a flower shop, but she quickly began selling dresses out of the front of the store. By 1972, the flower business ceased. She was known both locally and regionally as having a great sense of style. Any woman could walk into the dress-packed store and Donna could immediately "size her up" and determine the style, size and color the woman needed. She knew her merchandise and her customers intimately. She logged the dresses, she sold, so no one would go to the prom with the same dress. Donna's was among the last retail businesses on the street to sell primarily to local customers.
Donna served on the City of Saint Augustine's Transportation and Parking Committee during the 1980s. She was a long-time member and chairman of the board of the First United Methodist Church on King Street, a position that her grandfather Richard Lee "Dick" Parks, Sr. had once held.
She didn't drive, she walked to work. She walked to church. She was the last person to live in her own property on Saint George Street between the City Gates and Cathedral Place. Donna had watched, from her own doorstep, as the street she called home changed from a local business center to a more tourist-focused, pedestrian-only affair, Sandra Parks said.
She is survived by her son, Richard Joshua Leon "Josh" Parks and granddaughter, Findley Parks of Saint Augustine, Florida; her daughter, Phoebe Noel (Scott Eric) Nipper and her granddaughter, Leslie Nipper of Glen Saint Mary, Florida; her sister, Sandra Anne Parks Wing Kennedy; nieces, Jennifer Hale Wing Pastore of Saint Augustine, Florida and Jessica Anne Pastore of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and nephew, John Howland Wing, Jr. of Washington, D.C.
A memorial service was held at 1 p.m. on Sunday, February 7, 2016, at the First United Methodist Church of Saint Augustine, 118 King Street, Saint Augustine, Florida.
Those wishing to may make a contribution in her memory may do so to the Youth Program of the First United Methodist Church, 118 King Street, Saint Augustine, Florida 32084.
Sources: The St. Augustine Record, "Obituaries", January 31, 2016; The Florida Times Union, "St. Augustine dress store owner was last person to live in her own property on St. George Street" by Jared Keever, February 16, 2016
Donna graduated from Saint Augustine High School in 1964 and for forty-seven years owned Donna's at 127 Saint George Street. Donna bought the business in 1969 when it was a flower shop, but she quickly began selling dresses out of the front of the store. By 1972, the flower business ceased. She was known both locally and regionally as having a great sense of style. Any woman could walk into the dress-packed store and Donna could immediately "size her up" and determine the style, size and color the woman needed. She knew her merchandise and her customers intimately. She logged the dresses, she sold, so no one would go to the prom with the same dress. Donna's was among the last retail businesses on the street to sell primarily to local customers.
Donna served on the City of Saint Augustine's Transportation and Parking Committee during the 1980s. She was a long-time member and chairman of the board of the First United Methodist Church on King Street, a position that her grandfather Richard Lee "Dick" Parks, Sr. had once held.
She didn't drive, she walked to work. She walked to church. She was the last person to live in her own property on Saint George Street between the City Gates and Cathedral Place. Donna had watched, from her own doorstep, as the street she called home changed from a local business center to a more tourist-focused, pedestrian-only affair, Sandra Parks said.
She is survived by her son, Richard Joshua Leon "Josh" Parks and granddaughter, Findley Parks of Saint Augustine, Florida; her daughter, Phoebe Noel (Scott Eric) Nipper and her granddaughter, Leslie Nipper of Glen Saint Mary, Florida; her sister, Sandra Anne Parks Wing Kennedy; nieces, Jennifer Hale Wing Pastore of Saint Augustine, Florida and Jessica Anne Pastore of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and nephew, John Howland Wing, Jr. of Washington, D.C.
A memorial service was held at 1 p.m. on Sunday, February 7, 2016, at the First United Methodist Church of Saint Augustine, 118 King Street, Saint Augustine, Florida.
Those wishing to may make a contribution in her memory may do so to the Youth Program of the First United Methodist Church, 118 King Street, Saint Augustine, Florida 32084.
Sources: The St. Augustine Record, "Obituaries", January 31, 2016; The Florida Times Union, "St. Augustine dress store owner was last person to live in her own property on St. George Street" by Jared Keever, February 16, 2016
Donna Lee Parks, age 69, of 18 Saint George Street, Saint Augustine, Florida, passed away on Sunday, January 24, 2016, at the Specialty Hospital of Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Florida. She was born on Friday, March 22, 1946 to Richard Lee, Jr. and Mary Belle (nee Chilton) Parks at the Florida East Coast Railway Hospital in Saint Augustine, Florida.
Donna graduated from Saint Augustine High School in 1964 and for forty-seven years owned Donna's at 127 Saint George Street. Donna bought the business in 1969 when it was a flower shop, but she quickly began selling dresses out of the front of the store. By 1972, the flower business ceased. She was known both locally and regionally as having a great sense of style. Any woman could walk into the dress-packed store and Donna could immediately "size her up" and determine the style, size and color the woman needed. She knew her merchandise and her customers intimately. She logged the dresses, she sold, so no one would go to the prom with the same dress. Donna's was among the last retail businesses on the street to sell primarily to local customers.
Donna served on the City of Saint Augustine's Transportation and Parking Committee during the 1980s. She was a long-time member and chairman of the board of the First United Methodist Church on King Street, a position that her grandfather Richard Lee "Dick" Parks, Sr. had once held.
She didn't drive, she walked to work. She walked to church. She was the last person to live in her own property on Saint George Street between the City Gates and Cathedral Place. Donna had watched, from her own doorstep, as the street she called home changed from a local business center to a more tourist-focused, pedestrian-only affair, Sandra Parks said.
She is survived by her son, Richard Joshua Leon "Josh" Parks and granddaughter, Findley Parks of Saint Augustine, Florida; her daughter, Phoebe Noel (Scott Eric) Nipper and her granddaughter, Leslie Nipper of Glen Saint Mary, Florida; her sister, Sandra Anne Parks Wing Kennedy; nieces, Jennifer Hale Wing Pastore of Saint Augustine, Florida and Jessica Anne Pastore of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and nephew, John Howland Wing, Jr. of Washington, D.C.
A memorial service was held at 1 p.m. on Sunday, February 7, 2016, at the First United Methodist Church of Saint Augustine, 118 King Street, Saint Augustine, Florida.
Those wishing to may make a contribution in her memory may do so to the Youth Program of the First United Methodist Church, 118 King Street, Saint Augustine, Florida 32084.
Sources: The St. Augustine Record, "Obituaries", January 31, 2016; The Florida Times Union, "St. Augustine dress store owner was last person to live in her own property on St. George Street" by Jared Keever, February 16, 2016
Donna graduated from Saint Augustine High School in 1964 and for forty-seven years owned Donna's at 127 Saint George Street. Donna bought the business in 1969 when it was a flower shop, but she quickly began selling dresses out of the front of the store. By 1972, the flower business ceased. She was known both locally and regionally as having a great sense of style. Any woman could walk into the dress-packed store and Donna could immediately "size her up" and determine the style, size and color the woman needed. She knew her merchandise and her customers intimately. She logged the dresses, she sold, so no one would go to the prom with the same dress. Donna's was among the last retail businesses on the street to sell primarily to local customers.
Donna served on the City of Saint Augustine's Transportation and Parking Committee during the 1980s. She was a long-time member and chairman of the board of the First United Methodist Church on King Street, a position that her grandfather Richard Lee "Dick" Parks, Sr. had once held.
She didn't drive, she walked to work. She walked to church. She was the last person to live in her own property on Saint George Street between the City Gates and Cathedral Place. Donna had watched, from her own doorstep, as the street she called home changed from a local business center to a more tourist-focused, pedestrian-only affair, Sandra Parks said.
She is survived by her son, Richard Joshua Leon "Josh" Parks and granddaughter, Findley Parks of Saint Augustine, Florida; her daughter, Phoebe Noel (Scott Eric) Nipper and her granddaughter, Leslie Nipper of Glen Saint Mary, Florida; her sister, Sandra Anne Parks Wing Kennedy; nieces, Jennifer Hale Wing Pastore of Saint Augustine, Florida and Jessica Anne Pastore of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and nephew, John Howland Wing, Jr. of Washington, D.C.
A memorial service was held at 1 p.m. on Sunday, February 7, 2016, at the First United Methodist Church of Saint Augustine, 118 King Street, Saint Augustine, Florida.
Those wishing to may make a contribution in her memory may do so to the Youth Program of the First United Methodist Church, 118 King Street, Saint Augustine, Florida 32084.
Sources: The St. Augustine Record, "Obituaries", January 31, 2016; The Florida Times Union, "St. Augustine dress store owner was last person to live in her own property on St. George Street" by Jared Keever, February 16, 2016
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