CHARLES E. SPARKS, 77, of Paris, passed from this life on Monday August 24, 2009 at Paris Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. Friday August 28, 2009 in the chapel of Starrett Funeral Home.Interment will follow in Evergreen Cemetery.

The family will receive friends from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.

Mr. Sparks, longtime Paris educator and school administrator, was born September 23, 1931 in the Pattonville community, a son of Horace Wiggins and Emma Clyde Myres Sparks. He was a graduate of Paris High School, Paris Junior College, and East Texas State University, from whence he earned both his Bachelors and Master of Education degrees. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, serving from 1950 to 1954 and earning the rank of Staff Sergeant. He was a member of the Immanuel Baptist Church. Beginning with a teaching career, he served as assistant principal at Paris High School and, and later became principal at First Ward School, then at T.G. Givens Elementary, from whence he retired. An avid outdoorsman, he loved to camp, fish and hunt. He enjoyed spending hours doing backyard barbecues for friends and family. His greatest joy was spending time with his grandson Stephen.

He married Hazel Osborne on June 10, 1956 in Paris.

Survivors include his wife; two sons, Stephen L. Sparks and wife Karon and Craig Sparks, both of Paris; a daughter, Donna Carden, of Kempner, Texas; a grandson, Stephen C. Sparks and wife Cathleen, of Richardson; a brother, James H. Sparks and wife Ruth, of Paris; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

If desired, memorial contributions may be made to the Paris Education Foundation, P.O. Box 356, Paris, TX 75461 or to North Lamar Education Foundation, 3201 Lewis Lane, Paris, TX 75460.