Tommy Parks, who suffered a stroke in the summer of 2017, died Tuesday night.

            Parks was named as head coach at Upson-Lee in January of 2014, moving over from Harris County to take over at his alma mater.

            In early July of 2017, he and wife Carmen had taken a walk before a vacation, only for Parks to collapse in their Thomaston home.

            He was transported to Macon and diagnosed with a 100 percent blockage of an anterior artery. But the impact of the trauma along with an oxygen loss to his brain and complications put him in full-time treatment, starting at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta.

            A “TP Strong” movement began with fund-raisers throughout the state at various games. Parks recovery was up and down, with good stretches inspiring optimism only to be follow by a step or two back. He was 47.

            Parks spent a dozen years at Harris County, 10 as head coach, before returning home to coach the Knights. Parks went 55-54 with the Tigers, going out with 9-3 and 8-5 seasons his final two years, the program’s best two-year run in program history, dating back to the 1950s.

            He left Harris County as the program’s winningest and most successful head coach, with a winning percentage of 50.5. Parks left as Harris County’s top coach in both categories.

            He was also a successful baseball coach at Harris County as well as in Alabama.

            He took the Knights job in January of 2014, and went 21-11 in three seasons. He coached David Marshall, who went on to play four years at Georgia, finishing in the 2019 season.

            Current Georgia defensive lineman Travon Walker was a budding underclassman standout under Parks.

            Parks’ career football coaching record is 76-65, with seven trips to the playoffs.

            Parks graduated from Upson-Lee’s predecessor, R.E. Lee Institute, and was a member of the 1988 Class AA state football championship, graduating in 1990. Also a standout baseball player, he went on to play that sport in junior college and at Berry, earning all-conference honors.

            He was inducted into the Thomaston-Upson Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.