Coach Ben Parks left Hollister quickly after he received his
high school diploma from San Benito High in 1953. Parks, then 18,
had lived in the small farming community for 11 years thanks to his
grandmother who decided to raise him on the West Coast after he was
born in North Carolina on Feb. 7 1934.
Coach Ben Parks left Hollister quickly after he received his high school diploma from San Benito High in 1953. Parks, then 18, had lived in the small farming community for 11 years thanks to his grandmother who decided to raise him on the West Coast after he was born in North Carolina on Feb. 7 1934.
But for the next 60 years, Parks made sure to always return to his former home and give back to those that were in need – including the Baler Backers and the families of migrant workers. Parks was able to make that impact on Hollister, and the surrounding area, because of his coaching drive that allowed him to become the first African-American high school football head coach in the Bay Area.
The revered Parks passed away in his sleep Friday in his Mountain View home. Coach Parks, as he liked to be called, was 77. Parks leaves behind a lasting legacy of mentoring young Bay Area athletes – coaching at Menlo-Atherton High School for 16 years and high school sports for nearly 50 years. Parks also trained more than 1,000 NFL players during his life, including Hall of Famers Ronnie Lott, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.
But at the start, it was rough for Parks to move on from his Hollister roots.
And that was what his high school coach was for. Driving Parks to Stockton Junior College in 1953, his coach dropped him off and said ‘you’re playing football,” Parks’ son Ralph Parks said.
“He was just going to work but his coach told him he is going to college,” Ralph Parks said. “He wanted a better life for my father. He never forgot that.”
Parks took football as an opportunity and ran with it.
He played the sport throughout his time at the junior college – and later the University of Pacific.
Afterward, the only thing Parks wanted to do was coach, Ralph Parks said.
Parks used that passion at Edison High School in Stockton, where he coached tennis, wrestling and football. In 1968 he moved onto Menlo-Atherton High School where he gained notoriety for becoming the first African-American head coach in the Bay Area .
He continued to coach until last year at Sequoia High School, where he taught wrestling.
“He was looking forward to coaching again,” Ralph Parks said.
During those 50 years, Parks used his position in authority to give back to the community by holding yearly fundraisers and food banks, including the “Run for opportunity,” where Parks ran a mile for every year he was alive.
“My dad’s philosophy was that service is the rent that pays for life,” Ralph Parks said. “He believed in paying the rent.”
And that belief had a profound impact on the lives he touched – including Marc Rogers, who was a student of Parks during his time at Menlo-Atherton.
Rogers, who graduated from Menlo-Atherton in 1975, now helps run the Coach Parks Community Foundation.
“When I was a sophomore, I was assigned to his class and I remember thinking it was for seniors,” Rogers said. “It was everything I thought it would be – he was demanding but he helps you get the most out of yourself.”
For Rogers he was a master motivator.
“It was his commitment and caring,” Rogers said. “There was no better person.”
Rogers also remembers coming down to Hollister with Parks to pass out food. Those trips were among Parks’ favorites.
“When we drove in, we would go to the migrant camps and he would just point,” Rogers said.
Rogers and Parks would unload more than $1,000 worth of canned food in Hollister every year during the holiday season.
“It was his number one thing,” Rogers said.
In Hollister, Parks is referred to almost as folk hero – they know about him but have never met him.
“He was a little before my time,” San Benito High athletic director Tod Thatcher said.
But Thatcher knew the impact Parks had on the school and program – including donations and efforts with the Baler Foundation.
San Benito County Community Foundation director Gary Byrne called Parks a great man.
“He was always very popular,” Byrne said.
Byrne met Parks on a few occasions during nonprofit dinners or gatherings.
“He was always very involved,” Byrne said.
And giving back to the community and mentoring his students were always the most important thing for Parks – wins always were second.
“He would always tell people ‘life is not a choice but living is,” Ralph Parks said. “Every day was an opportunity to give back and help someone where an impact could be made.”
A viewing is set for 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday at the Colonial Mortuary on 96 W. El Camino Real in Mountain View. A private funeral will be held in Hollister on Tuesday. Cards can be sent to Ralph Parks at P.O. Box 843 in Fremont.
The family request all donations or gifts be given to:
Coach Parks Community Foundation, c/o Philanthropic Ventures Foundation, 1222 Preservation Park Way, Oakland CA.
