Bronza M. "Bronzie" Parks (d. May 13, 1958) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 boatbuilder from Wingate

Wingate, Maryland

Wingate is an unincorporated community in Dorchester County, Maryland, United States.-References:...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

. Parks was the last builder of Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

 skipjack sailing vessels.

Personal life

Parks was married to Katie Lewis with whom he had five daughters: Irene, Joyce, Lucille, Martha, and Mary. At the time of his death in 1958 Parks was a candidate for Dorchester County commissioner and president of the Lakes-Straits Fire Department.

Boatbuilding

Parks began building boats at the age of 16 and completed more than 400 vessels during his career. He built his first skipjack, the Wilma Lee, in 1940. The last three skipjacks that Parks completed were the Rosie Parks

Rosie Parks (skipjack)

The Rosie Parks is a Chesapeake Bay skipjack built in Wingate, Maryland, in 1955 by Bronza Parks. She is owned by the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum; her hailing port is Cambridge, Maryland. The Rosie Parks was purchased in 1975 from Orville Parks—the boatbuilder's brother—and she was the first...

and the Martha Lewis

Martha Lewis (skipjack)

Martha Lewis is a Chesapeake Bay skipjack built in 1955. Her home port is Havre de Grace, Harford County, Maryland.She was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008....

in 1955 and the Lady Katie in 1956.

Death

In 1958, Parks was working on an 18 feet (5.5 m) skipjack-style sailboat for Willis C. Rowe of Silver Spring, Maryland

Silver Spring, Maryland

Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...

. During a confrontation with Parks on May 13, 1958, regarding the cost of the project Rowe shot the boatbuilder three times killing him. Rowe was eventually convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 18 years in prison.