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Harold Parfitt, the last governor of the Canal Zone
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The last Canal Zone governor dies in Dallas

Harold Robert Parfitt

Major General Harold R. Parfitt (US Army - Retired) died of a stroke on May 21 in the Baylor University Hospital in Dallas, Texas. He was 84 years old.

Parfitt is best known to Panama as the last governor of the old Canal Zone. Like most of the US presidential appointees who held that post, he came from the US Army Corps of Engineers.

A 1943 West Point graduate, Parfitt served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Among the jobs he held in his military career, he was commander of the US Army Engineer Center and also director of the Engineer School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He was awarded the Purple Heart, two Legion of Merit medals and two Distinguished Service Medals.

Parfitt is survived by two daughters, one of them Undersecretary of State for  Public Diplomacy Karen P. Hughes, two grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Fernando Manfredo worked closely with Parfitt, as the former was the deputy Panama Canal administrator in charge of the earlier part of the transition from US to Panamanian control and the latter had the duty of winding up the affairs of the former Canal Zone government. "Parfitt had the responsibility of maintaining the morale of the US employees of the canal after the Panama Canal Treaty was signed," Manfredo recalled. "He had to deal with their anger, their fears, their apprehensions. His most powerful management tool was his genuine leadership. He also played a vital role in making the end of the Canal Zone government, not an act of defeat, but of dignity."

The end of the Canal Zone was a traumatic event for many Zonians, and although most had the opportunity to stay on, the majority decided to leave soon after the 1977 Carter-Torrijos Treaties were ratified by both governments. However, a number of the former Canal Zone residents who left, particularly those of the Baby Boom generation, have been returning to Panama to live for a variety of reasons.

Although one can find many a Zonian with bitter memories of treaty time, it's hard to find a Zonian with bad things to say about Governor Parfitt. He was a soldier and he did his job, which was to implement a policy decided by the constitutional civilian government of the United States even though it was unpopular in the community he governed. Personally opposed to the US withdrawal from the Canal Zone, Parfitt nevertheless oversaw the dismantling of the American political administration of that enclave in a way that soothed hurt feelings as much as possible under the circumstances.

Parfitt's performance as the public servant cast into the middle of controversial events went a long way toward creating the current friendly attitude that the great majority of Panamanians have about Americans. This relationship was not nearly so warm when duty took him to the isthmus.