Manley Keith Parkin's Obituary
Manley Keith Parkin, 90, passed away peacefully and surrounded by his family on November 23, 2022 at his home in Charlotte, NC. He was born in Montego Bay Jamaica on September 11, 1932 and was raised in Kingston by his mother Darling Erskine and his uncle French Erskine.
Prior to leaving Jamaica, Manley served as Chief of the Parcel Post Division of Kingston’s General Post Office. In 1957, he emigrated to the United States to attend Morgan State University, a Historically Black College & University in Baltimore Maryland. After graduation, he moved to New York to attend NYU to obtain his Master’s in Business Administration. A career business man, Manley had stints at RCA, Columbia Pictures, Goldman Sachs, as well as the Interracial Council for Business Opportunity (ICBO), where he rose to become Executive Director, helping minority businesses obtain startup funding and support. He finished his corporate career serving as Asst. Budget Director for the Comptroller’s Office of the City of New York and Assistant Chief for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s budget division. During and after his corporate career, Manley pursued his entrepreneurial aspirations owning Saturn Automotive and Gateway Tire.
Manley met his beloved wife Myrna in 1962 and celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary this past September. Manley and Myrna had two devoted sons, Scott (52) and Craig (49), in Brooklyn, NY before moving to Westbury, Long Island in 1976. Manley was a proud and supportive father of his boys, attending many of their athletic, scholastic and career events throughout their lives.
Manley grew up playing soccer and was an avid fan of the New York Yankees, Giants and Knicks. When they were not at home watching their favorite sports teams, shows and a western, he and Myrna were dedicated attendees at their family events and grandchildren’s games, school events and parties. Manley loved music, in particular, jazz and reggae, and was proud of his vinyl record collection.
Manley was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010 at the age of 78. A successful surgery helped him win that bout, but the disease returned in 2020 in the form of pancreatic cancer. The Stage 4 prognosis gave him a maximum 12 months to live, but the cancer survivor beat the odds once again and lived for more than two years, giving he and his family additional precious time together.
In addition to Myrna, Scott and Craig, Manley is survived by his six loving granddaughters, Jazmine (29), Joelle (25), Kristin (21), Jordan (19), Juliana (17) and Rhyan (17) and two wonderful daughters-in-law, Teri and Andrea.
We extend our heartfelt and deep gratitude to Dr. Alberto Mizrachi, Dr. Armida Parala-Metz and the entire team at Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute in Huntersville, NC for the amazing personal care they provided him during his treatment. We also want to thank Dr. Ronald Beamon and Dr. Ryan Corbello for being his tremendous primary care doctors since moving to Charlotte in 2004.
A funeral service will be held at Assurance United Methodist Church at 12:30pm Friday, December 2, with Pastors Josh Kurtz and Daniel Wilson officiating. Visitation will be from 11-12pm prior to the service and burial will follow at Northlake Memorial Gardens Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute.
James Funeral Home of Huntersville is serving the family.
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