Roger Parent (mayor)
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Roger O. Parent is an American politician who served as the 29th
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...
.


Early life and education

Parent was born
Grand Isle, Maine Grand Isle ( French: ''Grande Île'') is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The population was 366 at the 2020 census. The village of Grand Isle is in the northwestern part of the town. Etymology Grand Isle takes its name from ...
. He attended elementary school in Grand Isle, Maine. He graduated from Van Buren Boys High School salutatorian of his class. Parent attended
St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Fran ...
, where he graduated in 1961 magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in economics. From October 1961 through October 1963, Parent served in the
Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...
. He was a member of the inaugural class of Peace Corps volunteers. He served in
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
Group 1 for the duration of his service. He taught carpentry at Udorn Trade School and ESL at a Girls’ Handicraft School. He also served as a volunteer field leader. Parent then attended the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
, from which he graduated in 1966 with a
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in education.


Early career

From 1967 through 1970, Parent was the executive director of the South Bend chapter of Neighborhood Development Centers. From 1971 through 1979 Parent was the executive director of the South Bend Office of Catholic Charities. From 1972 through 1980, Parent served as a member of the South Bend Common Council. For five of his eight years on the Common Council, he was its president.


Mayoralty

Parent was first elected mayor of South Bend in 1979, and was reelected to a second term as mayor in 1983. Parent was sworn in as mayor in January 1980. Parent prioritized
economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...
. He sought to increase employment and the city's tax base by providing direct assistance to new commercial and industrial development. He also sought to indirectly encourage new economic ventures by improving the city's amenities, particularly in its downtown area. Among the key projects of Parent's mayoralty was the construction of the East Race Waterway whitewater facility. The idea for this project had predated Parent's tenure as mayor, and had been supported by his predecessor Peter J. Nemeth during the later part of his tenure. Ground broke on the project in 1982, and it was opened in 1984. The project had faced fierce opposition from "Fair Tax", a small citizen's association of St. Joseph County taxpayers. The opposition particularly dealt with the
municipal bond A municipal bond, commonly known as a muni, is a bond issued by state or local governments, or entities they create such as authorities and special districts. In the United States, interest income received by holders of municipal bonds is often ...
issue Parent was pushing to fund the construction of the raceway along with several other projects. Fair Tax operated an opposition effort under the name "Citizens Information Exchange". Originally asking for a $5.6 million bond issue to fund not only the waterway, but also additional projects, Parent ultimately settled for a $3.2 million bond just to fund the waterway. Another key project he successfully championed in his first term was the construction of a $141 million
ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...
plant on the far west side of the city, which was designed to employ 150 people. The ethanol plant also faced opposition from "Fair Tax". In his first term, most of his redevelopment efforts were especially focused on the east side of South Bend's downtown business district. A key project of Parent's second term was the funding and the construction of Coveleski Stadium. Parent had advertised the stadium as being a generator that would contribute to the development of the nearby "Studebaker Corridor", which he argued would be key for the redevelopment city's southwest quadrant. He announced plans for the stadium in March 1985. The stadium received some notable opposition from citizens and groups, including Fair Tax. The stadium was built, despite this opposition. As mayor, Parent believed that underutilized land at the 220-acre former site of the
Studebaker Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Man ...
's plant (located in the "Studebaker Corridor") could be a key asset in attracting new business and industry. However, this area did not see significant development during Parent's mayoralty, and would only far later see developments in the 2000s with the creation of such projects as Ignition Park. In 1987, South Bend hosted the
Special Olympics World Games The Special Olympics World Games, also known as Special Olympiad, are an international sports, sporting event for participants with intellectual disabilities, organized by the IOC-recognised Special Olympics organization. Principles Although ...
in conjunction with the nearby University of Notre Dame, with Parent playing a role. After the games, Roger Parent pitched Special Olympics founders
Eunice Kennedy Shriver Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver (née Kennedy, July 10, 1921 – August 11, 2009) was an American philanthropist. Shriver was a member of the Kennedy family by birth, and a member of the Shriver family through her marriage to Sargent Shriver, wh ...
and
Sargent Shriver Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. (November 9, 1915 – January 18, 2011) was an American diplomat, politician, and activist. He was a member of the Shriver family by birth, and a member of the Kennedy family through his marriage to Eunice Kennedy. ...
on the idea of establishing an "International Special Olympics Sports Hall of Fame" in South Bend. He also supported a proposal that would have renamed Island Park (located near Century Center in the city's downtown) to "Special Olympics Park" in commemoration of the games, and in October 1987 the city's Board of Public Works implemented such a name change. As mayor, Parent also created several task forces, councils, and commissions, and organizations, including the Task Force on Literacy, Council on Minority Affairs, Council on Older Adults, Commission on Energy Conservation, and the Business Development Corporation. During his tenure, Parent made a few hires which were the first for the city in regards to diversity. This included the city's first female city attorney, first
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
fire chief, and first female director of code enforcement. Parent announced he would not run for a third term in the 1987 election. Rumors arose that this decision was precipitated by controversy surrounding the construction of Coveleski Stadium, and poor internal polling results for his prospects of reelection. Parent was succeeded as mayor by Joe E. Kernan in 1988.


Post-mayoralty

Immediately after leaving office as mayor, Parent returned to his work with the Peace Corps, serving as the Country Director for Haiti and Eastern Caribbean from January 1988 through June 1990. He also served in positions in the Peace Corps in
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
and
Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...
. In the early 1990s, Parent worked as the Deputy Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Mental Health. Parent served as director of development for Priests of Holy Cross from 1994 through 2003. From May 2005 through November 2005, Parent volunteered with the Crisis Corps in Thailand as a deputy director at the Tsunami Volunteer Center, working on the response to the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the sci ...
. In 2006, Parent and his wife Rolande Parent founded the international nonprofit World Dignity Inc. (WDI), for which he has served as president. The nonprofit aims to help the poor by offering such assistance as teacher and student scholarships. The nonprofit operates educational programs in South Bend, Thailand, and
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. For five years, from 2009 through 2014, Parent served on the
school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...
of the South Bend Community School Corp. For part of his tenure, beginning in January 2011, he was the president of the school board. Parent has also served on the Social Work Advisory Board of St. Mary's College, St. Frances Academy board of directors, advisory committee for the Coady International Institute at St. Francis Xavier University, retired Indiana Public Retirement Association, and REAL Services board of directors. Parent supported
Pete Buttigieg Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former naval officer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Transportation, United States secretary of transportation from 2021 to 2025. A me ...
's, ultimately successful, candidacy for mayor of South Bend in
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
. Parent had endorsed Buttigieg at the start of his campaign.


Personal life

Parent continues to reside in South Bend. Parent and his wife Rolande Parent () have four children and six grandchildren. Parent is fluent in French and English, with some understanding of Thai and
Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; , ; , ), or simply Creole (), is a French-based creole languages, French-based creole language spoken by 10 to 12million people worldwide, and is one of the two official languages of Haiti (the other being French), where it ...
. Parent is a hobbyist
carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...
.


External links


C-SPAN appearances


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parent, Roger Mayors of South Bend, Indiana Living people Indiana Democrats Year of birth missing (living people)