Parris, Stanford Elmer, 1929-2010

Congressman Stanford E. Parris was born in Champaign, Illinois. He received his B.S. from the University of Illinois, Champaign in 1950 and served in the United States Air Force during the Korean Conflict from 1950-1954. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with cluster, the Air Medal with clusters, the Purple Heart,and the United States and Korean Presidential Citations for his time spent in Korea. In 1958 he passed the Virginia Bar and started practicing law in Alexandria, Virginia. He has also been president of Woodbridge Chrysler-Plymouth Corp., in 1965; president of the Flying Circus Aerodrome in 1971; a commercial pilot; a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from 1964 to 1967; a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1969 to 1972; chairman of the Joint Senate-House Republican caucus; a member of the United States Congress from 1973 to 1975 and again from 1981 to 1991; a member of the District of Columbia Law Revision Commission from 1975 to 1977; and he was appointed president of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation by President George Bush serving from 1991 to 1998.