THE late Wilbert Parkes had a “monumental impact” as a single parent of four daughters even while influencing generations as an outstanding educator and cricket coach.

Parkes passed away at age 82 on Thursday, November 18 in Portmore, St Catherine, after a period of illness.

“As I reflect on my father’s passing and his monumental impact on my life, I consider the biggest leadership lesson he ever taught me was that aspiration towards a goal was insufficient to achieve that goal,” Lois Parkes, one of his daughters, said in a tribute.

“Goal achievement required serious and sustained discipline and sacrifice. This was how he approached not only sporting and teaching goals, but also his parenting role.

“He gave himself no excuses, no pity party about being a single father at the age of 46 to four daughters. He simply remained focused, and put in the work and sacrifice. For this, my siblings and I will be forever grateful,” she continued.

Parkes was born on September 19, 1939 in the parish of Clarendon and attended Holmwood Technical School in neighbouring Manchester. He had four children with his first wife Nora, who died in 1985. He remarried in 1999, tying the knot with Delores.

Parkes had professional ties with Campion College in St Andrew dating back to the late 1960s, serving as teacher, coach, and head of the high school’s physical education department.

Under his guidance Campion won Sunlight Cup (now Grace Shield) Under-19 titles in 1987, 1988 and 2015. He was also behind the school’s success in the Tappin Cup (limited-overs) and Under-16 and Under-14 competitions in the mid- to late-1980s.

He was coach of the Jamaica senior women’s cricket team between 1999 and 2005, and founded the New Berry Women’s cricket team in 2000.

He was additionally an umpire, sports official and journalist. For many years he worked as sports writer for various media houses, including the Jamaica Observer. He kept readers informed about local cricket, especially, with focus on the game in clubs and schools.

In 2013 he was awarded the Order of Distinction in the rank of officer for long and dedicated service to Jamaica in the field of sport. In April of this year Campion College honoured him by naming its cricket field the Wilbert Parkes Oval.

Member of Parliament for St Andrew South Eastern Julian Robinson, who was a central figure in the successful Campion College teams of the 80s, said Parkes was an exemplary guiding hand on and off the cricket field.

“He had a profound influence on not just me but generations of cricketers whom he coached at Campion. The appreciation of his influence for us was after we left school and journeyed on our different paths personally and professionally,” the former schoolboy pace bowling all-rounder told the Observer.

“We recognised the importance of the values of discipline, hard work and commitment as requirements for success in any aspect of life. That is his abiding legacy — someone who shaped the character of us as young men.

“His mantra was to play straight which was literal with the bat but a metaphor for how we would live our lives after school. Playing straight means operating with integrity in all aspects of life,” Robinson said.