Each year, a host of newly minted graduates crosses the stage at Plymouth State University. Some subsequently settle in New Hampshire, while others venture farther afield. But all remain Panthers for Life, united by a shared educational experience and sense of connection with an alumni body that’s more than 37,000 strong. Many personify the adage of “Once a Panther, always a Panther,” especially longtime University supporter Carleton “Carl” Parish ’71.

Parish passed away on February 20, 2018, leaving behind a rich legacy of generosity and commitment to Plymouth State, an institution that he credited with shaping him both personally and professionally. “Plymouth made me a gentleman,” said Parish simply.

A New Hampshire native, Parish graduated from Haverhill (NH) Academy in 1962, then enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He served a four-year tour, then returned to the Granite State and enrolled at Plymouth State, supported by the GI Bill. There he earned his bachelor’s degree in social science, with an eye to becoming a teacher.

“Carl always loved education and did teach in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, for a year after graduating, but ultimately he returned to serving his country as a member of the U.S. Marshals Service,” notes Plymouth State’s Director of Development John Scheinman ’19P.

Parish served the Marshals with distinction for 34 years, joining the service as a special deputy and subsequently transferring into the role of logistics officer with the Administrative Services Directorate. His duties included protecting the federal judiciary, apprehending federal fugitives, seizing property acquired by criminals through illegal activities, and housing and transporting federal criminals. Parish concluded his service with the U.S. Marshals as a physical security specialist for the Judicial Circuit Courts from Maine to Guam, retiring in 2005 to spend more time with his beloved wife Sharon.

Over the years, Parish demonstrated that love and commitment repeatedly. As a senior, he joined forces with several other students to found Phi Beta Upsilon, a fraternity for returning veterans. “I think our fraternity may have been one of the first veterans’ fraternities in the U.S.,” says Mike McKinley ’73, another founding member. “We started out as a co-op of sorts, essentially a self-support unit for veterans. We had a lot of members who had served in Vietnam, but we were open to veterans from everywhere—we even had one member from Bolivia, Chacho, who fought against Che Guevara.”

The members were somewhat older than most of the other students, McKinley continues, and many were dealing with challenges like adjusting to college life and securing funds to complete their education. “We began getting together casually, and then someone suggested we start a fraternity, so that’s what we did.” Members not only supported one another, but also the community, says McKinley. “Some of our members, myself included, were among the first Plymouth State students to serve as campus policemen, and there were others who served as community medics and firemen as well.”

In 1976, the fraternity shifted its charter and opened to all Plymouth State students, veterans included, but the commitment to community service that began with Parish and his classmates remains strong, says current President Alexander Giordano ’18. Today, fraternity members devote numerous volunteer hours to the Veterans Home in Tilton as well as to campus projects. “We are honored to have Carleton Parish, a man so generous and accomplished, as a part of our alumni legacy,” says Giordano. “We realize that his contributions have made Plymouth State a better place.”

Following graduation, Parish maintained his connection with the University, giving generously of both his physical and fiscal resources. “Carleton was such a great role model for so many of us in terms of giving back, and he was unabashed in his approach to soliciting others,” notes classmate, friend, and former PSU Athletic Director John Clark ’71, ’73G. “He was a nontraditional student and very proud—of his time in the service, of the fraternity he helped to start, of our class, of Plymouth State in general. He kept in touch with dozens and dozens of our classmates and constantly encouraged others to support Plymouth State. He was very passionate about paying it forward.”

And Parish led by example. A proud member of two of the University’s vital fundraising bodies—the Holmes Heritage Society and the President’s Council—Parish was continuously looking for ways to aid his alma mater and honor those he held dear. Over the years, his donations reached nearly seven figures and encompassed, among other things, two endowed scholarships.

The first scholarship was motivated by somber circumstances. In February of 2011, Parish lost his beloved wife Sharon in a tragic car accident. Sharon Parish was a highly accomplished civil servant in her own right who enjoyed a distinguished career, first with the CIA, then with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). “Carl’s life was never the same after Sharon’s death,” says Scheinman. Parish responded to his grief by honoring his wife’s memory with an endowed scholarship: the Sharon Rebecca Parish Memorial Scholarship in Business. To date, says Scheinman, 14 students have been recipients of Parish’s philanthropy. “Carl was so proud of the students—he enjoyed meeting them on his trips to Plymouth and reading all of their thank-you notes.”

The second scholarship was the Carleton R. Parish ’71 Endowed Scholarship in Social Science, which supports deserving, high-achieving students seeking a social science degree. Parish established the scholarship in recognition of Plymouth State faculty members Peng-Khuan Chong, James Hogan, and Manuel Marquez Sterling, professors he credited with teaching him “life lessons, beyond course content, that prepared him for a successful and exemplary 30-plus-year career in the U.S. Marshals Service and made him a gentleman admired and respected by all who know him.”

It’s incredible how many lives he has changed through his gifts to Plymouth State.

Parish was also an avid fan of New England sports. Baseball was his favorite sport, and he cultivated rich relationships with Plymouth State’s team—coaches, student athletes, and parents alike. Over the years, Parish provided financial support for the team’s annual spring trip to Ft. Myers, FL, and repeatedly donated Red Sox memorabilia for the team’s fundraising auction. He also hosted a coaches’ social at his Ft. Myers home each year and bequeathed his remaining Red Sox collection to the team for future auctions. This season, the baseball team wore bracelets to honor his memory. “His love for Plymouth State athletics and the baseball team was truly special and meant a lot to me,” says Clark.

Parish’s largest gift was part of his final bequest, a donation to the fundraising initiative for Plymouth State’s Stadium and Turf Field in honor of Clark. “I am deeply touched,” says Clark.

“Carl knew the Stadium and Turf Field were very important to John Clark, and he was eager to do his part to make them a reality, so he included the project in his bequest intentions,” says Vice President for University Advancement Paula Lee Hobson. “This is a $4 million project and because of the generosity of Carl and many others, we’re rapidly closing in on our goal. We have $1 million left to raise, and I’m confident that once our generous alumni body realizes what’s needed, we will secure the remaining funds this year.”

Meanwhile, as the University moves toward that goal, Plymouth State formally recognized Parish’s decades of unstinting support with the May 6, 2018, naming of the baseball field as the Sharon and Carleton ’71 Parish Field. “I believe that Carl would like to be remembered as someone who gave back,” Scheinman concludes. “He called Plymouth State his seminary and was happy to be able to give back to the institution. He was disappointed when others did not.”

“It’s incredible how many lives he has changed through his gifts to Plymouth State,” observes Clark. “He was affecting people through his generosity every day.”

■ Lori Ferguson

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