Parks M. Coble

Parks McLendon Coble was born Aug. 4, 1913, in Liberty, N.C. He was a 1933 graduate of Furman University.

Parks served as superintendent of the Horry County schools from 1950-1955 and had an instrumental role in the Coastal Educational Foundation's drive to establish a two-year college in Horry County. Determined to expand educational opportunities for Horry County, Coble traveled with J.K. East, then director of instruction for the Conway schools, to meet with the University of South Carolina president to propose an Horry County branch of USC. Despite an unfavorable response from USC, Coble and East persisted and the College of Charleston soon agreed to open a branch campus in Conway in the fall of 1954.

In 1955, Coble accepted a position in Columbia as executive secretary to the South Carolina Education Association.

He was named an honorary founder of Coastal Carolina University in 1996.