Parke’s father, Ivan Parke, was a professor in the Department of Christian Studies and Philosophy at Mississippi College. He had taught at the university for more than 20 years before retiring due to his illness.
Before Ivan Parke was diagnosed with ALS, Jonathan said his father was very active outdoors and stayed up to date with his health.
Dr. Mike McMullan is the associate dean for student affairs at the school of medicine. He has known the Parke family for years, even before Jonathan arrived at UMMC. McMullan believes Parke’s experience with his father’s illness will help him excel in his career as a doctor.
“He is a very genuine and sincere individual who's very hard-working,” McMullan said. “He’s able to deal with patients in a professional and engaging manner. He is a guy who really wants to understand his patients and relate to his patients.”
McMullan said Parke’s father was his interim pastor at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Madison. He said Ivan was inspirational as a pastor. The last book Ivan Parke wrote was about Job from the Bible.
“He’s experiencing some of the things that Job went through, actually had him come and speak to our Bible study group of medical students sharing his book and sharing the lessons that he learned from Job and that was just three years ago,” McMullan said. “And here he is, you know, just three years later, unable to take care of himself, unable to speak. And yet his mind is still brilliant.”
In spring 2024, Ivan Parke noticed a difference in his mobility. One day, he confided in his son and asked for his professional opinion.
“I remember just laughing and going, like, ‘Dad, there's so many different things that can cause cramps. It could be dehydration. It could just be that you'd worked out in the yard,’ because that was one thing that he loved to do,” Parke said. “‘And your muscles are just contracting. It could so many things before it’s ALS.’”
It wasn’t until a childhood friend noticed on Facebook that Ivan’s speech was different while he was preaching a sermon. The Parke family then slowly started to see a loss of mobility in his hands and shoulders. In summer 2024, doctors thought he might have had Parsonage-Turner Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. On Jan. 17, 2025, at Ochsner, Ivan Parke was officially diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
“There was about a two to three week period that I just kind of went all the way to hell and back as far as just my emotions and my mental state of mourning all the time that we were that got cut away from us,” Parke said. “I just started realizing that's not the way that I should be going about this. That's not a perspective that someone in this faith would have in the situation and I just got on my knees and prayed and said, Lord, just help me to maneuver through this. If it's in your plan to heal him, I 100% have belief that you will do that. But if not, that's still okay. And one way or the other, he's getting healed. Every day that he loses something, he's gaining more and more of a presence in heaven, that he'll be completely whole.”
As his father’s disease progresses, Jonathan continues to help his family out whenever he can.
Parke’s grandfather, Dr. Kelly Parke, was a cardiologist. Jonathan will begin studying internal medicine at Duke University this fall to become a cardiologist as well. Parke says leaving his parents in Mississippi is not going to be easy, but his father reassured him to pursue his dreams.
“It'll be hard to be that far away from them, but I’m knowing that I have his support and like my family's support to be able to go and pursue a dream. It's awesome.”
In preparation for graduation, Jonathan said the university has been helpful in making accommodations for his father so he can see him walk across the stage.
“He never misses a moment to tell me he's proud of me,” Parke said. “That’s my friend, I love him and I’m thankful for him.”
Parke is one of 992 UMMC graduates this year and will be a fourth-generation Dr. Parke in his family.
“I really do feel like the Lord put me on this earth to just spread his love and joy and peace through medicine,” Parke said. “And so, being a blessing to the patients that I get to treat and see in the hospital, the family members of those patients and just letting them experience the love of God through me. I feel like that’s my ultimate calling.”
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