Printing, Arkansas Traveler Leader Frank ‘Bert’ Parke Dies Unexpectedly

Frank H. “Bert” Parke, Jr. – longtime leader of Democrat Printing & Lithographing Company and former president of the Arkansas Travelers – died on Wednesday, August 12, 2015, his family has confirmed to Talk Business & Politics.

An obituary provided to TB&P reads as follows:

Bert was born February 6, 1930 in Little Rock, Arkansas, the son of the late Frank H. Parke, Sr. and Emily Crawford Parke. He graduated from Little Rock High School in 1948, where he was a member of P.I.E. Fraternity. He was a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity at Vanderbilt University, where he graduated in 1952. He then served in the United States Air Force for two years before returning to Little Rock in 1954 to join the family firm, Democrat Printing & Lithographing Company.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Miriam Parke Balding.

He is survived by his wife, Ann Blair Adams Parke, his children, Frank H. Parke III, Emily Parke Stevens, and John Blair Parke, his grandchildren, Mary Katherine Parke Hastings, Logan Adams Parke, Margaret Parke Staley, and Blair Gambill Parke, and his great-grandchildren, Charles Hardin Hastings and Ellen Blair Hastings.

Throughout his career at DP&L, he was able to successfully guide the small business through technological innovations and industrial changes, while maintaining an unparalleled dedication to leadership in corporate philanthropy. Building on the principles he developed as a thirteen year old boy working on the presses, Bert served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Secretary, and President, before rising to become the Chairman of the Board, a position he held until his death.

Bert also served on the boards of directors for a number of other organizations including Worthen Bank, Boatmen’s Bank, Associated Industries of Arkansas, United Insurance Company Limited, and the The National School Supply and Equipment Association.

He was President of the Arkansas Travelers from 1980-2010 and was elected to the Texas League Hall of Fame this summer.