Written by Kaitlyn Conville
Eastern View High School English teacher Jamie Parr, of Charlottesville, passed away on September 10th, 2024. He was 45-years-old.
After Parr’s students were delivered the news the next day, EVHS senior Ardarian Diamond, known as AD, decided to write his English 12 teacher one last email.
“I can't believe I have to write this email to you. We never truly appreciate someone until the space they took up in our hearts is absent. You were kind, strong, smart, and loving. The English department will be empty without you, and old English will never truly be translated. I could make this message 100x longer, but I know you don't have long till you cross to the beautiful library you're going to be reading in. Thank you for everything you have, and were going to have done.
We Love You,
AD”
“I knew he would never read it,” he explained. “But I had to email him.”
AD knew immediately what he wanted to do as he and his classmates started to process the news. He went to SCA adviser, DeOnna Frazier, with an idea. He told Frazier, “Before you even ask if I’m okay, I already decided we need to have a Hawaiian shirt day for Mr. Parr. And I already got it approved.”
Hawaiian shirts were a part of Parr’s daily attire, so his students thought it was the perfect way to honor their late teacher. Friday, September 13th was officially dubbed “Mr. Parr Day.” Students and staff donned colorful Hawaiian shirts; the art classes made tissue paper leis; Honey the therapy dog visited Parr’s seniors; students from all grades visited the growing memorial of flowers, cards, and heart-shaped notes set up outside of room 301 to pay their respects. Silent tears and bittersweet memories filled the day.
Manny Burbridge, a senior in Parr’s second block, delivers a fun fact on the morning announcements every Friday, but his fact on Mr. Parr Day had a special meaning behind it. He spoke of Salvador Dalí and one of his famous paintings. Manny announced on EVTV, “One of [Dalí’s] most loved paintings was called ‘The Persistence of Memory’ … Among those fans was someone who was very near and dear to us. Mr. Parr was a kind, smart, and wonderful man who made everyone’s day better just by being there. May he rest in peace knowing he will forever have a place in our hearts.” Parr, a collector of antique clocks, had a replica of the melting clock from the painting in his classroom.
In addition to Mr. Parr Day, the seniors organized a fundraiser for the following week. If they reached the goal of $200, EVHS principal Dr. Nate Bopp would wear a hula girl costume at Friday’s football game and perform a dance at halftime. The goal was met before the end of 1st block on the first day of fundraising.
The money from the fundraiser will be contributed to the Jamie Parr Memorial Scholarship, and a grandfather clock from Parr’s personal collection will be placed in the Eastern View Library in his memory.
Parr’s longtime friend and EV colleague, Becky Kauffman, reflected on the loss: “[He was] a true scholar and teacher. He was meant to do it. I’ve been thinking about his love of clocks and the irony of his time being cut so short. I still think that he would have been satisfied with his time here. It was a life well-lived.”
As difficult — impossible — as it seems to move on in time, his stories will live on with his family, friends, students, and colleagues. He leaves behind a truly timeless legacy.
