Paul Parks, respected community leader, laid to rest

Globe photo/Wendy Maeda

Pall bearers with the coffin of Paul Parks today at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury.

By Globe Staff

Paul Parks, a local civil rights leader who went on to hold several top positions in city and state government, was laid to rest today at a funeral in Roxbury. He died last week at age 86.

Among those in attendance today was former Governor Michael Dukakis, who in a Globe obituary called Parks "one of the first citizens of the city, no question about it.’’

“When he came to Boston, if you were black, you couldn’t live on this side of the railroad tracks,’’ Dukakis said.

“And yet he develops an engineering practice, gets deeply involved in politics, deeply involved in civil rights and desegregation. When you think back at the indignity of this and him emerging on the other side as a hugely respected community leader, it’s quite a story.’’

To read the full obituary, click here.