This Little Light of Mine
/Through work, volunteerism, and writing, funeral director Vicki Parks cares for others
By Dr. Robin Rogers
Photo by shane darby.
Some people act with a servant’s heart their entire lives, continually sharing their gifts with others. Vicki Parks, aged 69, is a shining example of this generosity of spirit.
A lifetime resident of Texarkana, Ms. Vicki Parks is in the middle of her third career. After 20 years with her first job working at a telephone company, Vicki went to work for the Texarkana Independent School District. After working for 25 years as an administrative assistant at TISD, she retired from education—but true “retirement” was never really an option for Vicki, and soon, she was working as a funeral director, a career she maintains today.
“I didn’t just wake up one day and want to [be a funeral director],” she said. “I was at my church, and the spirit came over me. Jonathan Stewart, who is my boss now, was speaking. After the service, I told him, ‘If y’all ever need some help, I just want you to know that my heart is in it.’ And I honestly believed that. God just placed me in that profession.”
Vicki took college classes at UACCH (now UAHT) and earned her funeral director license in both Texas and Arkansas. She was hired at Jones Stuart Mortuary, where she serves families at their greatest time of need: when a loved one has passed.
“I imagine always wanting to do my part to help families.”
Only during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic did Vicki ever question her calling.
“When COVID was making the news, I must admit that I was petrified for many months,” she said. “Of course, the funeral business could not shut down. Funerals became graveside-mandatory. Even when churches reopened, it was a few weeks before I put my anxiety at bay.”
During that time, Vicki prayed regularly for God to watch over her and her colleagues while they helped others deal with the pandemic. On top of her prayers, she was covered up with masks and full of vitamins “A to Zinc,” she laughed.
Outside of work, Vicki has a rich family life. Her biggest and most challenging job has been raising three daughters. “I’m proud of the job I have done parenting,” she said. “I was a divorced parent twice, you know, and I raised three beautiful, successful, educated daughters, and now they’re all self-sufficient, and that is what I am most proud of. I received emotional support from my family,” she continued, “and sometimes a little bit financially, but not a lot. I did everything for my kids as a school secretary.”
Vicki said her daughters are “the light of [her] life.” Submitted photo.
“I love my family. My daughters are the light of my life, and my sisters are my role models,” Vicki said. “I have two older sisters: Marsha Marks and Deidra James; and I have one, younger sister, Regina Houff.”
Vicki stays busy with work, family, and volunteerism. Personal relaxation, she said, comes when she is volunteering for others in the community. But, after six years of volunteering as the activities coordinator for the senior citizens of the Sandflat Neighborhood Center, she recently took a hiatus from that responsibility to spend more time pursuing another passion: writing devotionals and stories.
Vicki caught the writing bug as a senior in high school, under the tutelage of English teacher Jeanie Nutter. It began with a writing assignment based on The Grapes of Wrath.
“I tried to compare this family moving across the country to a young man I knew from church who moved to California and got on drugs on his journey,” Vicki recalled. “My parallel from church was what I knew, and I earned an A-plus on that paper, and that grade really amazed me. Then, when one of my friends, who came behind me in school and also had Mrs. Nutter, told me that the teacher read my essay to her students as an example, and I was so proud. I have been writing ever since.”
Currently, Vicki has published inspirational devotionals in Hymns Family Devotionals, 50 Days of Intentional Discipleship, and Daughters of Promise—God’s Assurance on the Cross for our Crown. In addition to devotionals and short stories, Vicki enjoys writing plays and skits for special occasions at her church, Miles Chapel. Recently, during Black History Month, Vicki created and performed monologues of individual Black Americans at church, Sandflat, and Arkansas Middle School.
Vicki won the 2023 Wilbur Award for outstanding community leadership. submitted photo.
Vicki has served as the Youth and Children’s Ministries director at Miles Chapel Church, and writing and teaching Sunday school lessons has always ignited her creativity. One of her favorite childhood Sunday school stories is the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14–20). “I want to use [the talents] God has given me,” she said.
There are no rocking chairs in Vicki’s future; even looking a mere ten years ahead, she said that she will “absolutely” still be working in the funeral industry. While she admitted that, at 79, she may not be able to lift caskets and load them into the hearses, she could still make arrangements with the families.
This February, Vicki performed a monologue she wrote about Mae Jemison, the first Black American female astronaut, for the Texarkana Arkansas Parks and Recreation Department. submitted photo.
“I imagine always wanting to do my part to help families,” Vicki said.
To this end, Vicki also hopes to publish her own book of stories and devotionals—writing that uplifts people in times of need. With humility and a joyous attitude, Vicki serves people through her profession, volunteerism, and writing, meeting many in their darkest hour—just when they need a Vicki Parks the most.