1951-81, West and East Parcels combined: Maynard and Patricia Parks

In April 1951, Einar Erickson sold the West Parcel of what is now 394 Shallow Shores Road to Maynard and (Mary) Patricia Parks. The Whatcom Assessor report for the East Parcel shows that Maynard Parks owned this section as well, but it does not specify when he procured it or from whom.

According to his obituary (of 2007), Maynard was born in Seattle in 1913. Maynard and Patricia (a nurse, born in Everett in 1915) married in 1940. Maynard served in World War II and subsequently made his career as a railroad executive. The couple had two sons: Michael and Daniel.

It was while the Parks owned the Shallow Shores property that the big house at the Point was built on the West Parcel, in 1977 (presumably demolishing the house that the Ericksons lived in?). The much smaller house currently standing on the East Parcel is believed to have been built in 1940 and remodelled in 1980.

In April 1981, Maynard and Patricia did an extraordinary thing: they donated their property at Lake Samish to Western Washington University. According to the article published in WWU's newspaper, Western Front (below), the gift was directed to WWU as opposed to Maynard's alma mater, the University of Washington, because of an interest in WWU that began when the school's rowing crew waved to him and Patricia while practising at Lake Samish.

The donated land, valued at $750,000 at the time, became the most valuable piece of property in WWU's real estate portfolio. In honour of its benefactor, the school named a new campus building after Maynard and Patricia (who died in June 1981, only a few months after the land donation). Parks Hall was dedicated in 1983.

The land donation was in the form of an irrevocable trust that would pass to WWU "at the appropriate time," according to WWU Board of Trustees minutes. The Western Front reported that the land would pass to WWU upon Maynard's death, but it didn't turn out that way. In May 1987, the Western Foundation (holder of the WWU land trust) sold the Shallow Shores property to Herbert and Chara Messer. The recorded sale price in Whatcom Assessor records was $295,000 -- substantially less than the 1981 valuation of the Parks's donation.

All kinds of questions arise from this: Did the Messers have any connection with WWU? Why was WWU entitled to sell the land before Maynard's death? What did WWU do with the land between 1981 and 1987? A trip to WWU archives may provide some answers.