Michael Parks
Board Treasurer & Former Center volunteer
Michael was born in Milwaukee Wisconsin to James and Patricia Parks and introduced to The Center at a very young age. His aunt, Madre Miquel Conway (BVM) was with Father John Halligan (SJ) helping build the Center fromm very early on in the process.
Michael first volunteered for the Center’s “Family of Families” by helping silkscreen Center Christmas Cards at his parent’s house when he was about 10. His first visit to Quito was with a group of Marquette University High School students during his senior year.
He returned to Quito after getting his undergraduate degree in accounting at Marquette University to volunteer for a full year in the fall of 1985. Michael shared that “There is nothing like living in South America during a World Cup!”
After returning to the States in the fall of 1986, he got his law degree at the University of Wisconsin, where he also met his wife, Alice. After spending their first two years of marriage in Milwaukee, Alice and Michael moved to Appleton, Wisconsin, where they still reside, and raised four children; Kate, Mickey, Maggie, and Will.
Michael has returned to Quito about a half dozen times over the years. Kate, Mickey and Maggie have all volunteered at the mission in Quito for their high school senior social service projects. Will was unable to because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but he hopes to make a trip down in the near future. The Center’s mission in Quito has always been a big part of his life.
He is currently an attorney at Schneider National, Inc.