A Ricebelt warehouse founder and past El Campo Citizen of the Year, Melvin Alton Parker Jr. died Friday
at the age of 94. He is remembered not only for his working efforts in agriculture, but also for his service to the
community. Parker born in 1928 in Beaumont had been an El Campo resident for 68 years and a leader in the rice industry. First coming to the area as the manager of the Rice Marketing Association office, he then became a founding director of Rice Belt Warehouse, Inc.