At 2:02 p.m. Sunday, the projection screen above the Sun Room stage was raised following a display of photos featuring W. Robert Parks during his childhood, on the ISU campus, with his family and his wife, Ellen.

By this time, nearly all of the 286 seats in the room were accounted for. Friends, family and past colleagues of Parks conversed and read through programs presented at the door while the soft music of a violinist, pianist and cellist filled the room.

Reid Crawford, a friend, neighbor and colleague of Parks, approached the podium at the center of the stage to open the service in memory of Parks.

Parks, Iowa State’s eleventh and longest serving president, died July 13. He was 87 years old.

During his 21 years as president of Iowa State, the Colleges of Business and Administration, Education and Design were created in addition to 40 new undergraduate degrees and 30 new graduate majors, according to library archives. During his presidency from 1965 to 1986, enrollment was increased by 90 percent.

The front of the stage was dominated by two rows of bouquets, including flowers from ISU colleges, the president’s office, the library and friends of Parks. On the right side of the stage sat a framed oil painting of Parks, part of the permanent collection of the library since 1984.

“He maintained a small office and had just a very few staff members, but the lessons I learned from him were immense and many,” Crawford said.

Crawford called Parks a true gentleman and the real model of a scholar, leader and administrator.

“His sense of timing was superb,” he said. “He knew when to engage in the debate and at when it was appropriate to remain silent.”

Crawford told a story about the button gracing his lapel which read “I Love W. Bob.” These buttons were distributed by the graduating class of 1986 in admiration of Parks shortly before he left the position of ISU’s President, he said.

Warren Madden, vice president of business and finance, expressed the honor of knowing and working with Parks.

“I considered him to be one of my mentors early in my career, as well as a colleague and a friend,” Madden said.

Parks did more through his leadership and personal influence during his 36 years at Iowa State than is recognized through his list of accomplishments, Madden said.

“He prided the kind of leadership that Iowa State needed at the most important time in its development as a university,” he said. “In Dr. Parks, the arts and humanities had a champion. Thanks to this champion, Iowa State began developing as a true university.”

Madden said Parks instilled his own qualities of honesty, integrity, understanding and compassion into the university.

“These qualities insured that this university would never be too large to care about its students, to listen to them or have compassion for them,” he said.

Robert Ray, governor of Iowa from 1969 to 1983, lightened the mood as he described his experiences and thoughts of Parks as a president and a friend.

“He was a practitioner of what was good in the political system and most certainly in our educational system,” Ray said.

Ray explained how Parks became a calming factor during the campus violence and unrest of the early 1970s.

“It was the worst time of my life, and I felt so secure with Bob Parks,” Ray said. “He was calm. He was understanding. He listened. The students on this campus appreciated their leader because they knew he had their best interest at heart.”

Willard “Sandy” Boyd, University of Iowa president from 1969 to 1981, described his close and collaborative work with Parks to push the importance of public higher education in Iowa. Boyd served as an academic colleague with Parks for 17 years during the time they were academic vice presidents and presidents.

“We concluded that together we could accomplish more,” Boyd said. “Our inter-institutional respect and collaboration were unique in the nation and were much admired.”

Boyd said he often remembers the lessons he learned from Parks, all of which, as he described, were “spiced with humor.”

“People, not structures, make great universities,” Boyd said. “Bob and Ellen Parks epitomized the humane and invigorating spirit of [Iowa State].”

Olivia M.A. Madison, dean of library services, described how Parks’ character and life created what Iowa State is today.

“He was a complex man who touched untold numbers of lives through his roles as husband, father, educator, administrator and public advocate,” she said.

Madison described Parks’ presidency as one of the golden eras of Iowa State.

“It was during the Parks years when the entire university merged as a broad-based land grant institution in all of its magnificence,” she said.

John Clem, professor of physics, described the man he knew as W. Robert Parks as a president and a neighbor. Clem arrived at Iowa State in 1967 as a new assistant professor, and it was during his time on faculty council when Clem first became close with Parks, he said.

“He was polite, but assertive, and he clearly let us know where he stood on the key issues,” Clem said.

Clem, living across the street from Parks since 1989, recalled a story from 2001 when Parks had broken his hip. Coming to his rescue, Clem called 911 and was later “awarded” a trophy from Parks for his efforts, he said.

Clem held up the trophy to the crowd and read the inscription out loud: “Professor John Clem is officially declared a hero by Dr. W. Robert Parks.”

The last speaker was Park’s grandson, Robert Parks Van Houweling, who described his grandfather as a lucky man.

“My view is that he was great in large part because he comprehended the role good fortune played in his life and because this awareness led him to devote his life to improving the fortunes of others,” he said.

The Rev. Henry Campell of the United Church of Christ Congregational led the crowd in both a prayer and benediction.

The service was brought to a close by with the singing of “The Bells of Iowa State.”

In 1984, the university honored Parks and his wife by naming the campus library W. Robert and Ellen Sorge Parks Library. Ellen considered the library “the essence of the university.”