January 14, 1951 – August 27, 2026

Henry “Hank” Black Parke, 75, of Somerset, died Thursday, August 27, 2026. He was born January 14, 1951, in Somerset, a son of George and Helen Parke of Hidden Valley, and graduated from Somerset High School in 1968.

Hank grew up in the ski business. His parents opened Hidden Valley in 1949, and he worked there arranging flowers, maintaining ski trails and keeping up the slopes before founding and running the cross-country ski center. He leased cabins at Kooser State Park, ran a deli, sold real estate with Century 21, worked for PBS Coals with Robert Scott and handled public relations for Somerset Trust. He served fifteen years as a director of the Somerset County Chamber of Commerce.

He is best known for the trail. In 1987 he founded the organization now called the Somerset County Recreation & Trails Association, and over the next two decades he helped build the 41 miles of the Great Allegheny Passage that cross Somerset County. He was an original board member of the Allegheny Trail Alliance.

He also gave his time to the Salvation Army board, Trinity Park, Somerset Inc., Rotary, the Dressler Arts Center, the Somerset County Economic Development Council and the Somerset Historical Society, where he worked on Mountain Craft Days.

He was preceded in death by his parents and by his brother, Terry Parke, of Pittsburgh.

He is survived by his wife, Linda (Wrestley) Parke; his sister, Pamela Nettlebeck (Klause); his sister-in-law, Estella Parke; and his children, Josh Parke (Marie), Zak Parke (Nicole), Michelle Cook (Zerick) and Julie Wagner (Bill).

Also surviving are his grandchildren, Gabrielle Conkey, Zarabeth Cook, Zianna Cook, Zachiah Cook, Luke Wagner (Kari), Eden Wagner (Ethan Myers), Addison Parke, Lawson Parke and Ethan Machay; great-grandchildren Holdon and Jackson Conkey; and a great-grandchild on the way.

Visitation will be held from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday, August 30, 2026, at the Hauger-Zeigler Funeral Home & Cremation Services in Somerset. A viewing will be held from 9 to 10 a.m. Monday, August 31, at the First Christian Church in Somerset, followed by the funeral service at 10 a.m. with the Reverend J. Matthew Deal officiating.

Memorial donations may be made to the Somerset County Recreation & Trails Association.