The Quiffortoon
0?^12^973
Campus Mourns Death Of
The Parsons
Good-bye to two old friends
Guilford College has lost
two of its greatest friends.
Mr. and Mrs. David H. Par
sons, Jr. were killed in
an automobile accident
October 7, 1973. Dave
Parsons, business manager
at Guilford College for
the past thirty-six years,
was a member of the Class
of 1933. His wife, the
former Cora Worth Parker,
graduated from Guilford
in 1939.
The tragedy occurred in
Greensboro about 7:00 p.m.
at the intersection of
Benjamin Parkway and Corn
wallis Drive. Police of
ficials said that Parsons'
car was struck broadside
by an automobile involved
in a high-speed chase with
a police car. The 21-year
old driver of the speeding
car received serious in
juries; Mr. and Mrs. Par
sons died instantly.
President Grimsley Hobbs
expressed the grief of the
college and the community,
saying: "We at Guilford
College have been stunned
by the tragic and untimely
death of David and Cora
Worth Parsons. Each of
them was a very active mem
ber in many aspects of the
college and was held in
deepest affection."
Of the years Dave Par
sons devoted to Guilford
College in his role as
business manager, Dr.
Hobbs said, "He served with
great dedication, shepherd
ing the often slim resour-
0^
ces of the college through
depression years and be
yond. In years of greater
affluence he was persis
tent in helping us all to
be budget conscious so
that we could gain a max
imum in educational achieve
ment for the dollar.
"It is hard to conceive
how we will get along with
out David and Cora Worth,"
stated President Hobbs.
"Both were so much a part
of what we are and what
we aspire to be. They
shall be profoundly missed,
and by no one more than
myself."
Dave Parsons, 61, came
to Guilford in 1936 as
Centennial Secretary. In
1937, the year of the
college's one-hundredth
anniversary, he took over
as business manager. He
saw the financial affairs
of the college through the
closing years of the Great
Depression and the low
enrollment war years. And
it was under his manage
ment that the college under
went its greatest expan
sion in enrollment and
facilities during the
fifties and sixties.
After earning an A.B.
degree from Guilford in
1933, Dave Parsons at
tended Haverford College
where he received an M.A.
in 1934. He returned to r
Greensboro and served as 1
GREENSBORO, NC.
Boys Secretary at the
Cone Memorial YMCA. The
following year he served
as executive secretary of
the Community Chest in
his native High Point.
More recently, he served
several terms as mayor of
the Town of Guilford
" College. A member of New
Garden Friends Meeting,
Parsons was a trustee of
trust funds for the North
Carolina Yearly Meeting
of Friends and a member
of the executive committee
of Friends Homes, Inc.
Cora Worth Parsons, 54,
daughter of the late Mrs.
Eunice Parker, trustee
emeritus, graduated with
an A.B. degree from Guil
ford in 1939. A native
of High Point, she re
ceived a certificate from
the Katherine Gibbs School
in 1941. She was an ac
tive member of New Garden
Friends Meeting, where she
sang in the choir.
Mrs. Parsons was a jazz
buff, and occasionally
lectured to students on
jazz music. She was also
a frequent book reviewer
for the Greensboro Daily
News.
David and Cora Worth
Parsons are survived bv a
daughter Penny, a sopho
more at Guilford, and son
David Parsons 111, who is
teaching in Algeria
Memorial contributions
may be made to either Guil
ford College or New Garden
Friends Meeting.