Noted preservationist Parker Westbrook loved Arkansas and wanted its history preserved.
That dedication to preserving historic buildings and sites in his native state was a second career for Westbrook and serves as his legacy.
Westbrook, who was born in Nashville in 1926, died Thursday at 89.
In 2009, then-U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln honored Westbrook on the Senate floor, calling him "one of the great sons of the Natural State."
Lincoln recounted Westbrook's long career of service to Arkansas, noting that "although public service in government was a calling for much of Westbrook's life, his true passion was historic preservation."
"He really is responsible for a lot of the preservation infrastructure [in the state]," said Vanessa McKuin, executive director of Preserve Arkansas, formerly known as the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas.
Westbrook was involved in creating the group with others, becoming its founding president in 1981.
"I would call him kind of the father of preservation in Arkansas," McKuin said. "He really had his hands in so many things. Through his service and through his enthusiasm for sharing what he knew of Arkansas history and the institutional knowledge that he had, it's a loss."
Westbrook's first career was in politics.
Starting in 1948, Westbrook spent 26 years in Washington, serving on the staffs of four members of Arkansas' congressional delegation, including U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright.
Westbrook returned to Arkansas in 1974, working as a special assistant to Gov. David Pryor.
Westbrook went to work preserving Arkansas' history, working with the Pioneer Washington Restoration Foundation, the oldest historic preservation organization in the state; the Historic Arkansas Museum Commission; and the Arkansas State Review Board for Historic Preservation, where he served from its start in 1975 until Thursday, except for five years in the 2000s.
Westbrook also served with numerous other Arkansas historic entities.
"Parker was a friend and mentor to so many of us in the Arkansas preservation and history fields," said Frances "Missy" McSwain, director of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.
"He loved Arkansas architecture, from the simplest vernacular structure to the grandest state house. He will be missed."
In 1995, President Bill Clinton appointed Westbrook to the president's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, where he served until 2003.
Bill Worthen, director of the Historic Arkansas Museum, said it was fair to call Westbrook "the father of modern preservation in Arkansas," especially because of his efforts in founding what became Preserve Arkansas.
"He really did provide a vehicle for the preservation community in Arkansas to speak with one voice and to recognize the efforts that people were making all over the state for preservation."
In an emailed statement, Jamie Brandon, president of Preserve Arkansas, called Westbrook "an Arkansan through and through with roots deep in southwest Arkansas."
"Historic preservation in Arkansas would not be what it is if it were not for Parker Westbrook, and it will not be the same without him," said Brandon, who in August was elected chairman of the state Review Board for Historic Preservation.
Skip Rutherford, dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, said he knew Westbrook for about 40 years.
"When it came to Arkansas history, before there was Google, there was Parker Westbrook," Rutherford said. "He was a primary source for Arkansas history and Arkansas politics. He was just a walking encyclopedia. Not only did he know about history and preservation, he practiced it."
As a tribute to Westbrook, Rutherford said he spells the possessive of Arkansas as "Arkansas's," as Westbrook long argued it should be spelled.
"Before Parker raised that issue, I spelled it like the Democrat-Gazette does; I've never spelled it that way since," Rutherford said. "People correct me all the time, and I correct them back."
Preserve Arkansas, which named its top award the Parker Westbrook Award for Lifetime Achievement, had planned to celebrate Westbrook's 90th birthday at its Arkansas Preservation Awards ceremony in January. McKuin said the ceremony will now become a tribute to Westbrook.
State Desk on 11/21/2015