The Rev. Sumler E. Parran, who at 107 was Maryland's oldest veteran, died Friday at Bon Secours Hospital after a short illness. lived on Westwoo Avenue.

Services for Mr. Parran were being held today at John Wesley United Methodist Church, 3202 W. North Avenue.

Mr. Parran was a retired Social Security Administration employee and an evangelist who preached at churches in Baltimore and Southern Maryland.

He was born Dec. 10, 1883, in a house at Howard and Hamburg streets, beneath an old streetcar bridge -- the seventh son in a family of 15 children.

He enlisted in the Army in 1916, serving in France with the all-black Red Hand Division, 372nd Infantry.

He was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French government for bravery in action.

His first wife, Lydia Parran, died in 1958.

He is survived by his wife, Janie Parran; two daughters, Naomi Wilburn of Baltimore and Celestine Moore of Fredericksburg, Va.; a son, Robert Parran of Baltimore; a sister, Mary Myers of Baltimore; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.