MS SR100

Commends Assistant Senior Deputy Melissa White Parker of the Mississippi State Department of Health on her retirement after 34 consecutive years of service beginning June 1, 1991

Parker held multiple leadership positions including Health Physicist, Waterworks Operator Instructor, Director of Compliance and Enforcement (1999), Deputy Director of Water Supply (2007), Deputy Director of Environmental Health (2012), Director of Office of Licensure (2016), and Office of Health Protection Director before becoming Assistant Senior Deputy in 2024

Parker served in leadership roles during major state emergency response operations including Hurricane Katrina recovery, the April 28, 2014 Louisville EF-4 tornado, the Coronavirus pandemic, and the March 24, 2023 Rolling Fork-Silver City and Amory tornadoes

Parker is a native of Tupelo, Mississippi, 1985 Tupelo High School graduate, 1990 University of Mississippi graduate with a Bachelor's Degree in Biology, and is married to Tony Parker with two sons and a daughter-in-law

Resolution directs that the commendation be presented to Parker and her family, forwarded to the Mississippi State Department of Health, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps