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ou may have heard Pete Parham when he brought his trumpet to open the Oriental Rotary’s Boat Shows in recent Aprils. Once you got to talking, you might hear about his flights over Germany as a young man in World War II and his rapprochement years later, with a man who’d fought on the other side and now lived in retirement, as Pete did, in Oriental.

Pete Parham playing his trumpet at age 86 at the opening ceremony for the 2013 Oriental Boat Show.

Pete lived the past quarter century in Oriental and died Saturday at the home he’d built here. He was 89.

Writer Corbie Hill has this remembrance of his grandfather.

F. T.

“Pete” Parham used to check the obits every day – to see if he was in them, he joked. If he were around to check the paper today, though, he’d find himself. He might be sad for a second, but then he’d probably sigh and say “that’s okay” with a single, firm nod.

After all, he was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Miriam, who passed in 2007. They were apart eight years, and eight years is long enough.

Pete was a trumpet player and a lifelong bird hunter; an Episcopalian and a repository of stories from the Depression, the Second World War, or his work in Scouting or as a game warden. In classic Southern fashion, his stories had no definite beginning or end, and they ended up as creatively embellished as his audience would allow.

Pete was born May 15, 1925 in Oxford, NC, the youngest child of William Pettigrew Parham and Sarah Houghtaling Parham. It was a rural upbringing in the Depression-era South, one he remembered and retold in vivid detail. He was young, too, when he met his wife-to-be. He was in high school, and Miriam Powell wouldn’t give Pete the time of day – partially because he wore cowboy boots, she used to say. But the war matured him, and they married after his return to North Carolina and started a large family.

In keeping with his love of the outdoors, he had a long career with the Boy Scouts of America, retiring as scout executive of the Northwest Georgia Council in 1988. He and Miriam then moved from Rome, GA, to Oriental, NC, where they built a two-story house not far from the Neuse River, on a lot populated by gnarled, weather-worn trees. He was an active member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church and, in honor of his 53 years as an active Rotarian, a lifetime member of the Oriental Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow.

Pete got 89 years, and he did a lot with them. He flew over Germany in B-17s as a part of the 8th Air Force in World War II. He grew out an award-winning red beard for the Bicentennial. He signed his own birth certificate. He taught an astronaut to swim. He always kept at least one bird dog, and he hunted on into his 80s. And then, at the end, he died quietly and gently in the home he built with his wife, surrounded by family. It was December 20, 2014, the last day of autumn.

Pete was preceded in death by four sisters, four brothers, and his beloved wife. He is survived by his four children: daughter Caroline Parham-Ramsey of Oriental, NC, and sons Thomas Parham of Tazewell, VA, Peter Parham of Terrenganu, Malaysia, and James Parham of Almond, NC. He also leaves 11 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandson.

His memorial will be held at 1 P.M., January 3 at Saint Thomas Episcopal Church in Oriental.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to:
Hospice of Pamlico County
11146 NC Hwy 55 E.
Grantsboro, NC 28529

Posted Monday December 22, 2014 by Melinda Penkava