Gemma Parks, Former Member of Planning Commission, Dies

Gemma Parks, a former San Diego County Planning Commission member who was a leading force in Solana Beach’s incorporation efforts, died of cancer Sunday night. She was 54.

Parks also was involved with environmental groups devoted to the preservation of open space in San Diego County. She was a founder of the San Diego Ecology Center and served on the executive committee of San Diegans for Managed Growth.

She was involved with the incorporation efforts in Solana Beach since 1973, and was a founding member of the Solana Beach Town Council. She served on the Solana Beach Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and the Solana Beach Women’s Civic Club.

“She played an integral part in this community,” Parks’ business partner, Jackie Howe, said. “Few people know that it was Gemma who created and directed the first Fiesta del Sol (Solana Beach’s annual community party) in 1980. She wanted people to get to know each other and let them know what services were available to them.”

As a San Diego County Planning Commission member from 1975-83, Parks was often the center of controversy for openly advocating managed growth. Some felt as a commission member she should not be so vocal, but many others applauded her “gutsiness.”

Parks was also active in women’s health issues, and took up the cause of breast cancer education after she was diagnosed as having the disease in 1981. She recovered from that illness, but was later diagnosed as having another form of cancer.

“People continued to call her for advice up until last month,” Howe said. “She was always encouraging people to do their best, to explore their options and educate themselves, and fight it.”

For the past two years, Parks had done political and business consulting as a partner in the public relations firm of Jackie Howe/Gemma Parks Associates.

Parks is survived by her husband, Donald, of Solana Beach; daughters Kristina Sacher of Leucadia and Laurel Bailey-Parks of San Diego, and two grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Fletcher’s Cove, at the west end of Lomas Santa Fe Drive in Solana Beach. Cremation and private inurnment are planned through Encinitas Mortuary.

The family requests that donations be sent to a cancer research organization or in Parks’ name to the Coastal Community Foundation’s Ecology and Conservation Fund. The foundation’s address is P.O. Box 415, Encinitas CA 92024.