Olive Coleman Parkhurst, 83, widow of the late Willis M. Parkhurst, died August 3, 2004 after a twenty-one year battle with cancer at her home in Richmond, Kentucky. She was born November 8, 1920, to John Ernest and Martha Barbre Coleman in Farmersburg, Indiana.

Mrs. Parkhurst was a graduate of Central High School in Evansville, Indiana, received her B.S. in Elementary Education from Evansville College. She completed her M.S. at Indiana State University, and completed her Rank I training at Eastern Kentucky University.

Mrs. Parkhurst married Willis Mac Parkhurst in Evansville, Indiana on February 26, 1943, as Mr. Parkhurst was being drafted into military service in World War II. She followed him to Williamsburg, VA, Providence, RI, and San Francisco, CA, before he was shipped overseas, and she returned to Indiana. She then began her career as an elementary school teacher while Mr. Parkhurst completed his military service and pursued his own education at Indiana State University, in Terre Haute, Indiana, and at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Parkhurst’s moved to Athens, Alabama, in 1953, when Mr. Parkhurst took a position at Athens College as a biology teacher, and they came to Madison County, Kentucky, in 1955, after Mr. Parkhurst accepted a position as the psychology professor in the Department of Education at Eastern Kentucky State College. They bought a farm in Union City, where they began their family, and on which they resided for a decade before moving into Richmond. The Parkhurst’s also lived in Miami, Florida, in 1964-65, and Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, in 1973, when Mr. Parkhurst was on sabbatical leave from Eastern.

Mrs. Parkhurst was an elementary school teacher in Indiana, Alabama, and Madison County, Kentucky. In Madison County, she taught 6th grade at Waco from 1955-56, 1st grade at Kingston from 1956-58, primary reading (Title I) at Waco from 1970-72, and primary reading (Title I) at Daniel Boone Elementary from 1973 until her retirement in 1986.

Mrs. Parkhurst was an active member of the First United Methodist Church in Richmond since 1955, serving in numerous support and leadership roles, as well as singing in the chancel choir. She was also a former member of the Saturday Matinee Music Club, active in the Alpha Delta Kappa sorority for teachers, a former volunteer for Madison County Head Start, Pattie A. Clay Hospital Auxiliary (Pink Ladies,) Meals on Wheels, and Hospice.

Mrs. Parkhurst is survived by two sons, Dr. John Craig Parkhurst, of Richmond and Washington, DC, and Rev. James Coleman Parkhurst, of Phoenix, Arizona, and twin grandsons, Jonathan Thanh and Joshua Dan Parkhurst, of Richmond. She is also survived by her brother, John Barbre Coleman, of Brazil, Indiana, brothers- and sisters-in-law Judson L. and Dotty R. Parkhurst of Kettering, Ohio, Norris and Dorothy Parkhurst Smith, of Houghton Lake, Michigan, Sharon Tison, of Evansville, Indiana, and Dorothy and Robert Veeck, of Huntsville, Kentucky, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.

Visitation is from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM Friday August 6, 2004 at Turpin Funeral Home, Richmond, and from 9:00 AM to 10:45 AM Saturday, August 7, 2004, at the First United Methodist Church, Richmond. Funeral service will be held at 11:00 AM Saturday, August 7, 2004 at First United Methodist Church, Richmond, with the Rev. Robert Wallace and Rev. Eugene Strange presiding, and burial following in the Richmond Cemetery.

Pallbearers are Mrs. Parkhurst’s nephews and great-nephews. Honorary pallbearers are Mr. and Mrs. K. S. Park, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Ed Conder, Dr. John and Jean Roberts, Dorothy Lovell, Joyce Evans, and Mildred Rieker.

Memorial contributions may be made to Aldersgate United Methodist Camp, the EKU Psychology Department, or Hospice.