Seldon Brooks Parham

Seldon Brooks Parham, 89, of Dresden, TN, died Thursday, October 11, 2012 at Behavorial Health Care in Martin, TN. Funeral services were Sunday, October 14, 2012 at 2:30 PM at Bowlin Funeral Home Chapel with burial following in Sunset Cemetery in Dresden, TN. Full military honors were conducted.

Seldon was born January 23, 1923 in the Dresden area to the late Wayne Mitchell and Ethel "Billie" Jolly Parham. He married Minnie Mae Butler on October 3, 1943. Seldon was a retired Rural Letter Carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, a retired Major of the Tennessee Army National Guard, a WWII Veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps, a retired farmer, a member of the UTM American Legion Post #69, a member of the Rural Letter Carriers Association, a member of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, and a member of the West Tennessee No Till Association. He was also a member of Macks Grove Baptist Church.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife Minnie Mae Butler Parham. He is survived by his sons, Gerald (Faye) Parham, Gleason, TN, Frank (Roberta) Parham, Dresden, TN and Mitchell (Beverly) Parham, Dresden, TN, three grandchildren, three great grandchildren, and one brother, Bobby (Doris) Parham of the McConnell, TN area.

Friends of Seldon and Minnie Parham have established in their honor a scholarship fund at UTM that will benefit Weakley County students. What a blessing they were to so many youth who were privileged to experience their love and friendship! Countless adults look back on their lives as children and youth and recall how fortunate they were to be recipients of the Christian nurture and care of Seldon and Minnie during the decades of the 1950's and forward. Through the years, the Parhams have given of their time and resources to help provide a stable Christian influence for many children and youth, some of whom did not have a Christian home environment.

This is a request for each of you who knew them and/or their sons Gerald (Faye), Frank (Roberta), and Mitchell (Beverly) and their families to contribute to a scholarship fund at UTM in Seldon and Minnie's honor. Phillipians 2:4 says "do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." Seldon and Minnie have epitomized this scripture as they have spent their years looking out for the interest of others. We have a wonderful opportunity to reflect their Christian investment in our lives and in turn look out for the interest of others by making a contribution to this scholarship fund in their honor. Our goal is to raise $25,000 in the next few years to endow permanently a scholarship fund that would pay out about $1,000 a year in their honor to a Weakley County student in financial need. No amount is too small to give. To make a tax-deductible contribution, please send your check made payable to UT Martin and include a note that it is a contribution for the Seldon and Minnie Parham Scholarship Fund. Mail your check to: Seldon & Minnie Parham Scholarship Fund, UTM Office of Development, 554 University Street, 329 Administration Building, Martin, TN 38238.