Special flags fly at half-staff for members of Fishburne Military School family

The flags flying above Fishburne Military School on Monday bore additional significance for the school as well as one of its prominent families.

The flag flown above the FMS front parapet was originally presented by a United States Air Force Honor Guard during the funeral of Mr. William Case Parker, FMS Class of 1938. Mr. Parker passed away on July 1, 2018. He was born in Flemington, New Jersey on July 23, 1920 and was one of three sons of George Rollin Parker and Margery Case Parker. All three sons attended Fishburne Military School. George Rolling Parker was on of the original members of the school’s Board of Trustees which was formed in 1950.

After Fishburne, Mr. Parker attended Brown University until his education was interrupted by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps and served as a liaison pilot in the Phillipines and later on Okinawa before landing in mainland Japan following the Japanese surrender.

Following the war, he attended law school and laterr began a long career as an insurance executive with Chubb & Son in New York, and Great American Insurance Company in Cincinnati. He is survived by a daughter, Janne P. Fowler, of Pennington, NJ and a son, Willard C. “Burry” Parker, II, FMS Class of 1965.

Burry Parker donated the flag from his father’s service to be flown at Fishburne Military School in honor of his father.

Flags on campus were also flown at half-staff Monday in memory of MAJ Roger Wells (VA), FMS Bandmaster and middle-school instructor who passed away following a courageous battle with cancer.