Farris and Parker Family Papers
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Biographical/Historical Note
Dorothy Findlen descends from Samuel [Samir] “Sam” Abdo Parker (1890-1954) and Helen Kelly Parker (1891-1985). Helen immigrated to the United States from Syria in 1901 and Sam in 1905. They married in 1912 and had five children: Alma, Louis, Agnes, Lillian, and Magdalen.
Sam and Helen first worked in the produce industry in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, before moving to ELizabethtown, North Carolina in 1931. In Elizabethtown, the couple opened a department store. Sam and Helen also helped establish the first Catholic Church in Bladen County. For a decade, Sam and Helen hosted Mass, led by Father Henry Vosh of Newton Grove, within their own home. Land for a church was anonymously donated in 1931, and fundraising for its construction lasted for an additional decade. Helen Parker organized a fundraiser to purchase stained-glass windows for the church. The church, called Our Lady of the Snows, was dedicated on November 30, 1941.
Alma Parker attended Sacred Heart College (now part of Belmont Abbey College) in Belmont, North Carolina, where she studied business. Alma was a charter member of the Gray Moss Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association in Elizabethtown. Magdalen Parker attended the College of Notre Dame in Baltimore, Maryland, and became a teacher. Louis Francis Parker helped establish Bladen Community College and served on its Board of Trustees. The college offers three scholarships in the names of Parker family members: the Alma Parker Farris Scholarship for Business, which Alma established to encourage young women to study business; the Louis & Louise Parker Scholarship; and the Sam & Helen Kelly Parker Scholarship, established by Agnes Parker Najam to honor her parents’ love of education.
Alma Parker took over proprietorship of the family department store. She married Shikralla Doumit Farris (1910-1964) in December 1941. Shikralla graduated from the American University of Beirut who immigrated to the United States in 1937. His parents immigrated to Lawrence, Massachusetts. Alma and Shikralla ran the department store together and renamed it the Farris Department Store. Under their ownership, the store shifted away from dry goods to focus on clothing sales. When Shikralla passed away in 1964, Alma continued to run the store until her retirement in January 2007. She died in 2019. Alma and Shikralla had three daughters, Kathryn, Anne, and Dorothy.
Scope/Content Note
This collection contains official documents, newspaper articles, and photographs related to two generations of the Parker and Farris families. Included are naturalization documents, birth and death certificates, obituaries, family photographs, and articles detailing the accomplishments of family members. The collection reminiscences of Alma written by her grandchildren, which are available only upon request.
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Collection Tree
This collection is a part of a larger collection that has been divided into more specific collections.
