Harold Parfitt
Harold Robert Parfitt (born August 6, 1921 in Coaldale , Schuylkill County , Pennsylvania , † May 21, 2006 in Dallas , Texas ) was an American engineer , major general of the US Army Corps of Engineers and from 1975 to 1979 the last governor of the Panama Canal Zone .
Life
Parfitt joined the US Army after finishing school and was promoted to lieutenant in 1943 after graduating from the US Military Academy at West Point . He then studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and graduated in 1948. In the following years he served in the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and after completing the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at Fort Leavenworth was first deputy and then from August 1962 to May 1965 district engineer in the USACE district for the South Atlantic ( South Atlantic Division).
In June 1965 he was Lieutenant Governor (Lieutenant Governor) of the Panama Canal Zone and Vice President of the Panama Canal Society and held these functions until September 1968. During this time he completed a course in 1967 in management at Harvard University . Subsequently, he was during the Vietnam War between November 1968 and November 1969 commanding officer of the 20th Engineer Brigade in Vietnam and then from December 1969 to August 1973 district engineer in the USACE district for the Southwest (Southwestern Division) in Dallas. During this employment he was promoted to major general in 1971. In late 1973, Major General Parfitt became Commanding General of the US Army Engineer Center and Commander of the US Engineer School at Fort Belvoir and kept this post until March 1975.
On April 1, 1975 Parfitt succeeded David Stuart Parker as governor of the Panama Canal Zone , held this office until the return of the Canal Zone to Panama on September 30, 1979, making it the last US governor. During his tenure, he increasingly clarified the realities, but also the sensitivities of the ongoing operation of the canal located on Panamanian territory. He also supported learning and training programs to revitalize the Panama Canal Society and government organizations, as well as recommending the end of segregated schools for US and Latin American students. He also initiated a change in the occupancy of apartments that were previously also allocated separately to US and Latin American citizens. Finally, during his tenure in 1976 there was a second increase in tolls and on September 7, 1977, the new Panama Canal Treaty between Panama and the USA was signed.
His daughter, Karen Hughes , born in 1956, was one of the closest advisers to US President George W. Bush and a state secretary at the United States Department of State .
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Panama News: The last Canal Zone governor dies in Dallas ( Memento of the original from September 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Parfitt, Harold |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Parfitt, Harold Robert (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American Army Officer and Governor of the Panama Canal Zone |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 6, 1921 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Coaldale , Pennsylvania |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 21, 2006 |
| Place of death | Dallas , Texas |