On Saturday, March 10, the love for a person was shown through a sport into which he put so much of himself. The physical education majors at the University of Maine at Presque Isle organized a memorial basketball tournament in Ruel Parks’ name. This is the second year that the tournament has taken place and it is growing more and more each time it is held. Last year they had four teams participate and this year they had nine.
“There are twice as many teams as last year. I would eventually like to see this tournament held for two days.” Dr. Chris Standefer, professor of physical education. Standefer knew Parks as a student and as an employee.
“Ruel would do anything. He was always around. He was a good student, highly engaged. He was accepted by his peers even though he was a nontraditional student. He was a pleasant person to be around,” Standefer stated.
Looking around you could see that this day was about celebrating Parks’ life. His friends, co-workers and family were all in attendance.
“This tournament says a lot about Ruel too, that his students wanted to do this in his honor,” stated Deb Parks. “It means a lot that he is remembered.”
Lynn MacDonald was one of Parks’ classmates and she took some time to reflect on her experiences with him as well as what it meant to her to see this event happen.
“As a past classmate of Ruel’s it means a lot. He was a good listener, a good friend and just a great person all around. If he was here today he would be proud of his entire family.”
Trevor Parent, a senior and president of the Physical Education Major Club, knew Parks and felt that it was important to set something up to honor him.
“We just knew that Ruel did a lot more for his fellow classmates than just attending classes with us. He went above and beyond the call of duty by being involved with not only his academics but also with being a teammate on the golf team and a mentor for the women’s basketball team.”
“I know if it was my father, my brother,” Parent stated, “I would hope someone would remember them and celebrate their life as we have done for Ruel.”
