John Thomas Parran, Jr. lived from 1926 to 2006 and was an athlete, legislator, statesman, mentor, and friend. A citizen of Charles County and Southern Maryland, he pitched for the Indian Head Indians in the Charles–St. Mary's League and later served in the Maryland House of Delegates and Maryland Senate from 1955 to 1966. He was a founder of institutions of higher education, regional cooperation, and economic development, a friend of the Chesapeake Bay, the Potomac River, and the Patuxent River, and a progressive leader and regional statesman who, during a half-century of public service, built the foundation for a prosperous future for the people of Southern Maryland.