Tilden and Rosalie Parks Memorial Scholarship

Tilden (Tim) Eugene Parks is initiating this Memorial Scholarship in honor of his parents, Tilden and Rosalie Parks. Tim is an SIU alumnus and a proud Saluki. At the signing of this scholarship, the senior Tilden Parks, is 94 years old and suffering severe dementia. Tim takes care of his father in their home, near Marion. Tim is a loyal and dedicated caregiver who wants to honor the life and legacy of his parents.

The senior Tilden Parks quit school in 7th grade at the age of 12 years old to go to work. He became a timber worker, cutting timber. He also bought his first animal, a hog, at the age of 12 for $15. His Uncle was a cattle trader which intrigued Tilden, and he eventually became one ofthe most successful cattle brokers in Illinois.

Tilden worked as a coal miner for a few years during the 1940s. At that time, coal miners worked 6 months of the year. During his 6 months off, Tilden farmed. Tilden married Rosalie in 1945. Rosalie attended Bainbridge Grade School near Marion and lived with her Grandmother to attend high school in Carbondale. She attended SIU for one year. Rosalie later working in bank reconciliation at the Government Ordnance Plant near Carterville during World War II. Rosalie was a homemaker and also ran the poultry part of the family farm operation selling eggs to local patrons and restaurants. The family would go to Eldorado every spring to purchase baby chicks for Rosalie ’s egg sales.

At the age of 20, Tilden helped dig Crab Orchard Lake for $.60 an hour for 6 months. He also furnished a team of mules for the project. During the late 1950’s Tilden was a buyer for Prairie Packing Company in Marion. He owned the first hay baler in the Arnold View Community. In May of 1955, Tilden and Rosalie moved to Marion, IL, to live with Rosalie’s mother after her father passed away. The Parks still live in this homestead farm today.

Tilden became a cattle broker upon moving to Marion. He got his dealer’s license in 1964. Most of his buyers were from Central Illinois and were looking for 600 pound heifers. Tilden would sell heifers to his neighbors at 400 pounds in the spring and then buy them back in the fall when they’d reached peak weight. He bought cattle at auctions in Wayne City, Evansville, Goreville, Vienna, Sesser, Guthrie, KY, Marion, KY, Fruitland, MO, and Fredericktown, MO. He also bought several cattle from Bill Souders, a dealer at Brookport. He went as far as Mississippi and Memphis to purchase cattle. Tilden would put 50,000 pounds of cattle in a load and some years sold up to 100 loads of cattle in Central Illinois and Iowa. Tilden’s cattle broker business was a huge success. He never had to advertise, but had such a reputation by word of mouth as the best broker. In addition, Tilden and his best friend, Shannon Smith, developed several farms in Corinth over 10 years to ultimately become one 500 acre farm, called the Ponderosa, which they used for a cow-and-calf operation and then sold together in 1978.

Tilden served on the Williamson County Farm Bureau Board for 4 years. He was on the Board of Community Savings Bank from 1978-1996 and did appraisals for the bank. He was very generous, philanthropic and quick to help people in need, such as fire victims. Tilden was a trustee at Arnold View Free Will Baptist Church for over 40 years. Tilden believed in giving to those in need and was a man of his word, “If you tell someone you’re going to do something, you do it.”

With this scholarship, Tilden and Rosalie Parks legacy of hard work and generosity lives on.

• Scholarship for a junior or senior in Animal Science in good academic standing.