Viola A Parham

Viola Alethia Parham was born in NYC on Friday, May 27th, 1949, to Grace Crossland, nee Oliver, and Robert Ernest Crossland. She was the youngest of eight children.

She started out in life living with multiple extended family members on East 121st Street in Harlem, before settling down with her then-husband, Melvin Parham, in the East Harlem Franklyn Plaza Apt Complex. They had one daughter, Jessii (nee Melanie) Natasha Parham, and their family was able to live near Viola’s mother, Grace.

Viola worked her way up through school and obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from Lehman College. During her time at Lehman College, she progressed in her love of languages, music, sewing, and dance. She studied Italian, French, Spanish, and some Latin. She learned to read and write music, playing the piano, guitar, flute, and piccolo. She was also a singer who composed many songs that are copyrighted in the Library of Congress.

Her college’s Spanish class gave her the opportunity to study Spanish language and music for months in Seville, Spain. While in Spain, she was invited to learn Flamenco, a sultry Spanish dance, and perform in several cities in Spain while studying abroad. When she returned from this trip, she kept up her language, music and Flamenco studies, often performing Flamenco with her various dance schools, until recently.

She had a long career and worked for many notable organizations, such as Bloomingdale’s, the NY Public Library, the International Center for the Disabled, and other office jobs, leading to her state government job at the NY State Racing and Wagering Board. Sadly, and unbeknownst to us at that time, it was while working at her state government job that she was exposed to toxic fumes coming from the World Trade Center during the 9/11 tragedy, causing her to contract cancer years later in 2017.

Throughout her life, Viola was extremely charitable. Often making donations to various public schools, gardens, and other localities. She was an avid walker, often taking trips with her daughter, Jessii, along 5th Avenue for several miles, just enjoying NY and ending up at Macy’s or Lord and Taylor's. As small as she looked, she could definitely hold her own while eating! Often, if their walks didn’t end in shopping, they ended in eating!

Viola Alethia Parham, nee Crossland, continued on her journey last week, Thursday, May 22nd, 2025, in Calvary Hospital. She is survived by her last remaining sibling, her brother Nathaniel Crossland, her daughter Jessii Parham, her niece Doreen Parham, her grand nephew Shawn Alexander, her grand nephews Lance and Robbie Parham, her great niece Crystal Martin, her great nephew Zaquery Alexander, many other family members, friends, and her 19-year-old cat Gaea (Guy-ya). Thank you.

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