We'll miss you Daddy...
My tribute to my Dad at his funeral today, so hard, so very hard...
"Back in the early 1950s the three eldest Parker boys & their small families lived side by side on a little street in Shelby. Uncle Rob had a little house, while Uncle Buck lived in the apartment on the left and we lived between the brothers.
I remember lightning bugs in jars, Gene eating a shaker full of salt & my Dad's parents coming to visit, driving up in an ancient car. But my very earliest memory is Daddy & me walking out Parkview Street to Bethel Church one Sunday morning. Me in my navy blue cape & white beret skipping alongside my handsome Dad.
We moved to Lattimore for a couple of idyllic years. Grandparents up the dirt road, flowers & butterflies in the back yard, a calf named Buttercup, and of course the half of a box of ex-lax I ate during nap time, saving the other half for Gene.
We went on family outings to Green River and ate off the back of Tommy Hayes' flatbed truck; to Kings Mountain Battleground for Mom's family reunion; we fished in the creek & caught minnows for other trips. Tom, Joyce, Judy & Gene, quite often with cousins or neighborhood kids tagging along, were a team.
Daddy liked adventures & we were willing accomplices, turning down dirt roads just to see where they went, traveling back in time to see where he & his siblings were born, or where the "Old Man" helped build a house. We took a million trips thru the mountains with Gene & me giggling in the back seat sliding from side to side, or sleeping atop the mountain of linens needed for our camping trips. We chased the snow at Christmas & looked for bears in the summer. Life changed somewhat the summer Daddy bought a little boat & we began our journeys to Lake James. We camped, we swam and Daddy & I learned to water ski. Mom, in her life jacket, watched as Gene & I bobbed like carnival ducks in water that scared her witless.
Ours was the childhood of the 50s & 60s children. Our job was to have fun, listen to our parents and learn to do anything we set our minds on. Daddy didn't believe in the word can't. He felt we could do anything in life we wanted if we set our minds to work. Probably because he could. He could & did fix anything that came his way. We learned early on to be respectful, we didn't talk back & dreaded the look he would give if we did something wrong. Giggling under the Christmas tree while he was taking a nap before work got us the only spanking I remember, but I learned later on it hurt him much worse than us. We washed his white car with Comet, I broke the little vent window with my shoe; Gene & friends burned the shrubs while "camping" and thought he'd set the house on fire with a match and bricks. I'm sure we were punished, but how is long forgotten. Dad built Gene a go-kart and built us a sled for the snow, both were happy additions to the neighborhood.
Life changed yet again when we moved to the house on Scenic Drive. Quiet, so much quiet. He cleared the property & had a huge garden – year after year. He found a unicycle, brought it home & set about learning to ride that thing by hanging onto a tree limb; he rode a bicycle; he once painted everything in the back yard red because he had a can of paint.
He forgot the meaning of the word "no" when the Grandchildren came along, and he & Mom began traveling. They flew wherever Gene was stationed. He bought a van so Mom could see the country and they began driving to visit Gene's family. They'd head off on their adventures with me telling them to call when they got there so I could stop worrying & days later they would remember that promise & call to ease my mind. Mostly a baseball fan, he learned to watch football and golf so he could discuss games with Gary.
Daddy never, ever met a stranger. On hearing a name he could tell us who the parents & grandparents were, where they lived as kids, where they went to school, who they married and everything about that person. Going anywhere with him was a lesson in patience as you'd take a couple of steps, then stop to talk, steps, talk, steps & talk. Admittedly it was a little frustrating for a kid who just wanted to ride something at the county fair. When Lilly came along, he & Mom set out to show her every adventure possible. They picnicked at the Battleground, watched the giant turbines being trucked into Cliffside, went to flea markets and ate at every fast food & restaurant in the foothills of North Carolina & upper South Carolina. Their friends became Lilly's. Dad survived colon cancer at 82, never entertaining the notion it could possibly take his life. He refused chemo because it might make him lose his beautiful white hair, and three years later called me every day to check on my own cancer journey. He was more upset than I when we had to cut my hair & he visually measured it every time I walked in the door. He knew where all our childhood friends ended up & mourned those we lost. He would do anything for anyone & happily give them the shirt off his back.
He was the most curious, some might say nosey, man in Cleveland County. He read newspapers from front to back & did long division in the margins just for fun. He wanted to know everything going on & built his network to find out, even after the pandemic kept him isolated. He asked for & used the computer I got him in his early 80s and wore out a couple more. He wore his cell phone regardless of whether he would answer it or not. He could play any stringed instrument, including an old violin I got him somewhere along the line. He often said they had one as children, but it was broken when it fell off the pump organ. Yes, he had a keyboard he was once learning to play. A few years ago a neighbor had to rescue him from the roof of his workshop after he climbed up to move a limb & couldn't lower himself back down. I removed the ladders from inside the house when he said he was going to climb & fix the attic fan. Then I found out he was climbing them in the utility room searching for things on a shelf.
Mom's illness slowly stopped their travels, but he found other outlets to occupy his busy mind. Political smack down, Alaskan truckers, swamp people, the weather, blue grass on the radio, Uncle Buck & Uncle Jake on the phone, down home gospel and his special preachers on TV. He'd set his clock for 3:00 AM so he & Mom could listen to some far away country music.
As Mom got weaker and it was obvious her battle was ending, he sat with her, talked to her, reminisced, asked questions and yes, even argued with her. They were a team. We celebrated her 94th birthday on December 19, Christmas, and their 74th wedding anniversary on December 27th. Then January came and Mom could no longer go on. Daddy sat by the hospital bed we placed next to his recliner & held her hand. Complete opposites, my parents were together for 75 years, doing everything together. He was devastated he had stepped out of the room when the angels came for her.
When the singer Johnny Cash died his daughter Roseanne said she could live in a world without Johnny Cash but she didn't know how to live in a world without Daddy. I believe with all my heart that Daddy didn't know how to live in a world without his Joyce & made the decision to leave us. Now, like the singer's daughter, we are left to figure out how to live in a world without Daddy. "
Daddy's obituary was shared by Cecil & friends at the funeral home:
"AC "Tom" Parker, 95, passed away January 24, 2022. A native of Cleveland Co., he was born to the late Perry Green Parker and Ethel Morrison Parker. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his loving wife of 74 years, Joyce Peace Parker, brothers James Allen "Buck" Parker, Robert Lee Parker, Jesse Jack Parker, PG "Speed" Parker, sister Joanne Parker Nanney, daughter-in-law Joan Marie Maher Parker, sisters-in-law Lillian Mauney Parker, Maggie Mauney Parker, Jo Haynes Parker, Rachel Wright Parker and brother-in-law Martin Nanney.
Tom is survived by his daughter Judith Parker Proctor & husband Gary of Fallston, son Larry Gene Parker of Shelby, granddaughters Jeanmarie Parker, Megan Elizabeth Parker and Ashley Ann Parker, all of Shelby, great granddaughters Lilly & Violet of Shelby, brothers Glen Odell "Vop" Parker, Sr. of Lattimore, Billy Dean "Jake" Parker of Shelby, sisters Margaret Parker Williams of Greensboro, Jewell Aileen "Susie" Clark of Shelby, Mary Parker Denton of Lattimore, Betty Parker Green & husband Herb of Granite Falls, sister-in-law Lib Ogle Parker of Shelby and numerous nieces and nephews.
Tom proudly served his country in the United States Navy during World War II aboard the seaplane tender the USS Mackinac during the battles of Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. His ship preceded the USS Missouri into Tokyo Bay for the surrender, removing mines, bodies and debris to clear the way for the great ship. Tom worked in textiles most of his life, but retired from Copeland Industries. He could fix anything, play any string instrument, was a master gardener, loved Blue Grass and down home gospel music. He was a member Northside Baptist Church.
A funeral service will be held at 11:00 AM Monday, January 31, 2022, in the Chapel of Cecil M. Burton Funeral Home & Crematory Rev. Richard Stroup, officiating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. Burial will follow at Cleveland Memorial Park with full military honors..
Memorials may be made to St. Judes Children's Research Hospital 501 St. Jude Place Memphis, TN 38105 or Foothills Marine Corp League Chapter 1164 PO Box 2005 Shelby, NC 28150
Cecil M. Burton Funeral Home & Crematory is serving the family.
Online condolences may be made at www.cecilmburtonfuneralhome.com"
*************
Note: 16 February 2023 I had my Mom and Dad moved from their original burial site, Cleveland Memorial Park near Boiling Springs, NC, to Rose Hill Memorial Park Cemetery in Fallston, NC. It was a tough decision, but one that laid heavily on my heart for over a year. They needed to be closer to my home & the one they left behind. Those people involved in this move were the most respectful souls with whom I've ever dealt. From the gentleman who delivered the new vaults, the grave diggers, Jean Spence and the crew at Cleveland Memorial Park, Joey Tysinger with Stamey Tysinger Funeral home, all the Rose Hill crew, every one of these people worked to make sure my Mom & Dad were handled gently and respectfully. Each of them treated me and my feelings with kid gloves and walked me thru the process with compassion. My husband was with me every step of the way & this could not have been done without him. He supported my decision. He was at the original site during the disinterment and accompanied the hearses to their new resting places where I was waiting. It was a very emotional day, but made much easier with the love and support of everyone. I think Mom & Dad would be happy.
My tribute to my Dad at his funeral today, so hard, so very hard...
"Back in the early 1950s the three eldest Parker boys & their small families lived side by side on a little street in Shelby. Uncle Rob had a little house, while Uncle Buck lived in the apartment on the left and we lived between the brothers.
I remember lightning bugs in jars, Gene eating a shaker full of salt & my Dad's parents coming to visit, driving up in an ancient car. But my very earliest memory is Daddy & me walking out Parkview Street to Bethel Church one Sunday morning. Me in my navy blue cape & white beret skipping alongside my handsome Dad.
We moved to Lattimore for a couple of idyllic years. Grandparents up the dirt road, flowers & butterflies in the back yard, a calf named Buttercup, and of course the half of a box of ex-lax I ate during nap time, saving the other half for Gene.
We went on family outings to Green River and ate off the back of Tommy Hayes' flatbed truck; to Kings Mountain Battleground for Mom's family reunion; we fished in the creek & caught minnows for other trips. Tom, Joyce, Judy & Gene, quite often with cousins or neighborhood kids tagging along, were a team.
Daddy liked adventures & we were willing accomplices, turning down dirt roads just to see where they went, traveling back in time to see where he & his siblings were born, or where the "Old Man" helped build a house. We took a million trips thru the mountains with Gene & me giggling in the back seat sliding from side to side, or sleeping atop the mountain of linens needed for our camping trips. We chased the snow at Christmas & looked for bears in the summer. Life changed somewhat the summer Daddy bought a little boat & we began our journeys to Lake James. We camped, we swam and Daddy & I learned to water ski. Mom, in her life jacket, watched as Gene & I bobbed like carnival ducks in water that scared her witless.
Ours was the childhood of the 50s & 60s children. Our job was to have fun, listen to our parents and learn to do anything we set our minds on. Daddy didn't believe in the word can't. He felt we could do anything in life we wanted if we set our minds to work. Probably because he could. He could & did fix anything that came his way. We learned early on to be respectful, we didn't talk back & dreaded the look he would give if we did something wrong. Giggling under the Christmas tree while he was taking a nap before work got us the only spanking I remember, but I learned later on it hurt him much worse than us. We washed his white car with Comet, I broke the little vent window with my shoe; Gene & friends burned the shrubs while "camping" and thought he'd set the house on fire with a match and bricks. I'm sure we were punished, but how is long forgotten. Dad built Gene a go-kart and built us a sled for the snow, both were happy additions to the neighborhood.
Life changed yet again when we moved to the house on Scenic Drive. Quiet, so much quiet. He cleared the property & had a huge garden – year after year. He found a unicycle, brought it home & set about learning to ride that thing by hanging onto a tree limb; he rode a bicycle; he once painted everything in the back yard red because he had a can of paint.
He forgot the meaning of the word "no" when the Grandchildren came along, and he & Mom began traveling. They flew wherever Gene was stationed. He bought a van so Mom could see the country and they began driving to visit Gene's family. They'd head off on their adventures with me telling them to call when they got there so I could stop worrying & days later they would remember that promise & call to ease my mind. Mostly a baseball fan, he learned to watch football and golf so he could discuss games with Gary.
Daddy never, ever met a stranger. On hearing a name he could tell us who the parents & grandparents were, where they lived as kids, where they went to school, who they married and everything about that person. Going anywhere with him was a lesson in patience as you'd take a couple of steps, then stop to talk, steps, talk, steps & talk. Admittedly it was a little frustrating for a kid who just wanted to ride something at the county fair. When Lilly came along, he & Mom set out to show her every adventure possible. They picnicked at the Battleground, watched the giant turbines being trucked into Cliffside, went to flea markets and ate at every fast food & restaurant in the foothills of North Carolina & upper South Carolina. Their friends became Lilly's. Dad survived colon cancer at 82, never entertaining the notion it could possibly take his life. He refused chemo because it might make him lose his beautiful white hair, and three years later called me every day to check on my own cancer journey. He was more upset than I when we had to cut my hair & he visually measured it every time I walked in the door. He knew where all our childhood friends ended up & mourned those we lost. He would do anything for anyone & happily give them the shirt off his back.
He was the most curious, some might say nosey, man in Cleveland County. He read newspapers from front to back & did long division in the margins just for fun. He wanted to know everything going on & built his network to find out, even after the pandemic kept him isolated. He asked for & used the computer I got him in his early 80s and wore out a couple more. He wore his cell phone regardless of whether he would answer it or not. He could play any stringed instrument, including an old violin I got him somewhere along the line. He often said they had one as children, but it was broken when it fell off the pump organ. Yes, he had a keyboard he was once learning to play. A few years ago a neighbor had to rescue him from the roof of his workshop after he climbed up to move a limb & couldn't lower himself back down. I removed the ladders from inside the house when he said he was going to climb & fix the attic fan. Then I found out he was climbing them in the utility room searching for things on a shelf.
Mom's illness slowly stopped their travels, but he found other outlets to occupy his busy mind. Political smack down, Alaskan truckers, swamp people, the weather, blue grass on the radio, Uncle Buck & Uncle Jake on the phone, down home gospel and his special preachers on TV. He'd set his clock for 3:00 AM so he & Mom could listen to some far away country music.
As Mom got weaker and it was obvious her battle was ending, he sat with her, talked to her, reminisced, asked questions and yes, even argued with her. They were a team. We celebrated her 94th birthday on December 19, Christmas, and their 74th wedding anniversary on December 27th. Then January came and Mom could no longer go on. Daddy sat by the hospital bed we placed next to his recliner & held her hand. Complete opposites, my parents were together for 75 years, doing everything together. He was devastated he had stepped out of the room when the angels came for her.
When the singer Johnny Cash died his daughter Roseanne said she could live in a world without Johnny Cash but she didn't know how to live in a world without Daddy. I believe with all my heart that Daddy didn't know how to live in a world without his Joyce & made the decision to leave us. Now, like the singer's daughter, we are left to figure out how to live in a world without Daddy. "
Daddy's obituary was shared by Cecil & friends at the funeral home:
"AC "Tom" Parker, 95, passed away January 24, 2022. A native of Cleveland Co., he was born to the late Perry Green Parker and Ethel Morrison Parker. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his loving wife of 74 years, Joyce Peace Parker, brothers James Allen "Buck" Parker, Robert Lee Parker, Jesse Jack Parker, PG "Speed" Parker, sister Joanne Parker Nanney, daughter-in-law Joan Marie Maher Parker, sisters-in-law Lillian Mauney Parker, Maggie Mauney Parker, Jo Haynes Parker, Rachel Wright Parker and brother-in-law Martin Nanney.
Tom is survived by his daughter Judith Parker Proctor & husband Gary of Fallston, son Larry Gene Parker of Shelby, granddaughters Jeanmarie Parker, Megan Elizabeth Parker and Ashley Ann Parker, all of Shelby, great granddaughters Lilly & Violet of Shelby, brothers Glen Odell "Vop" Parker, Sr. of Lattimore, Billy Dean "Jake" Parker of Shelby, sisters Margaret Parker Williams of Greensboro, Jewell Aileen "Susie" Clark of Shelby, Mary Parker Denton of Lattimore, Betty Parker Green & husband Herb of Granite Falls, sister-in-law Lib Ogle Parker of Shelby and numerous nieces and nephews.
Tom proudly served his country in the United States Navy during World War II aboard the seaplane tender the USS Mackinac during the battles of Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. His ship preceded the USS Missouri into Tokyo Bay for the surrender, removing mines, bodies and debris to clear the way for the great ship. Tom worked in textiles most of his life, but retired from Copeland Industries. He could fix anything, play any string instrument, was a master gardener, loved Blue Grass and down home gospel music. He was a member Northside Baptist Church.
A funeral service will be held at 11:00 AM Monday, January 31, 2022, in the Chapel of Cecil M. Burton Funeral Home & Crematory Rev. Richard Stroup, officiating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. Burial will follow at Cleveland Memorial Park with full military honors..
Memorials may be made to St. Judes Children's Research Hospital 501 St. Jude Place Memphis, TN 38105 or Foothills Marine Corp League Chapter 1164 PO Box 2005 Shelby, NC 28150
Cecil M. Burton Funeral Home & Crematory is serving the family.
Online condolences may be made at www.cecilmburtonfuneralhome.com"
*************
Note: 16 February 2023 I had my Mom and Dad moved from their original burial site, Cleveland Memorial Park near Boiling Springs, NC, to Rose Hill Memorial Park Cemetery in Fallston, NC. It was a tough decision, but one that laid heavily on my heart for over a year. They needed to be closer to my home & the one they left behind. Those people involved in this move were the most respectful souls with whom I've ever dealt. From the gentleman who delivered the new vaults, the grave diggers, Jean Spence and the crew at Cleveland Memorial Park, Joey Tysinger with Stamey Tysinger Funeral home, all the Rose Hill crew, every one of these people worked to make sure my Mom & Dad were handled gently and respectfully. Each of them treated me and my feelings with kid gloves and walked me thru the process with compassion. My husband was with me every step of the way & this could not have been done without him. He supported my decision. He was at the original site during the disinterment and accompanied the hearses to their new resting places where I was waiting. It was a very emotional day, but made much easier with the love and support of everyone. I think Mom & Dad would be happy.
We'll miss you Daddy...
My tribute to my Dad at his funeral today, so hard, so very hard...
"Back in the early 1950s the three eldest Parker boys & their small families lived side by side on a little street in Shelby. Uncle Rob had a little house, while Uncle Buck lived in the apartment on the left and we lived between the brothers.
I remember lightning bugs in jars, Gene eating a shaker full of salt & my Dad's parents coming to visit, driving up in an ancient car. But my very earliest memory is Daddy & me walking out Parkview Street to Bethel Church one Sunday morning. Me in my navy blue cape & white beret skipping alongside my handsome Dad.
We moved to Lattimore for a couple of idyllic years. Grandparents up the dirt road, flowers & butterflies in the back yard, a calf named Buttercup, and of course the half of a box of ex-lax I ate during nap time, saving the other half for Gene.
We went on family outings to Green River and ate off the back of Tommy Hayes' flatbed truck; to Kings Mountain Battleground for Mom's family reunion; we fished in the creek & caught minnows for other trips. Tom, Joyce, Judy & Gene, quite often with cousins or neighborhood kids tagging along, were a team.
Daddy liked adventures & we were willing accomplices, turning down dirt roads just to see where they went, traveling back in time to see where he & his siblings were born, or where the "Old Man" helped build a house. We took a million trips thru the mountains with Gene & me giggling in the back seat sliding from side to side, or sleeping atop the mountain of linens needed for our camping trips. We chased the snow at Christmas & looked for bears in the summer. Life changed somewhat the summer Daddy bought a little boat & we began our journeys to Lake James. We camped, we swam and Daddy & I learned to water ski. Mom, in her life jacket, watched as Gene & I bobbed like carnival ducks in water that scared her witless.
Ours was the childhood of the 50s & 60s children. Our job was to have fun, listen to our parents and learn to do anything we set our minds on. Daddy didn't believe in the word can't. He felt we could do anything in life we wanted if we set our minds to work. Probably because he could. He could & did fix anything that came his way. We learned early on to be respectful, we didn't talk back & dreaded the look he would give if we did something wrong. Giggling under the Christmas tree while he was taking a nap before work got us the only spanking I remember, but I learned later on it hurt him much worse than us. We washed his white car with Comet, I broke the little vent window with my shoe; Gene & friends burned the shrubs while "camping" and thought he'd set the house on fire with a match and bricks. I'm sure we were punished, but how is long forgotten. Dad built Gene a go-kart and built us a sled for the snow, both were happy additions to the neighborhood.
Life changed yet again when we moved to the house on Scenic Drive. Quiet, so much quiet. He cleared the property & had a huge garden – year after year. He found a unicycle, brought it home & set about learning to ride that thing by hanging onto a tree limb; he rode a bicycle; he once painted everything in the back yard red because he had a can of paint.
He forgot the meaning of the word "no" when the Grandchildren came along, and he & Mom began traveling. They flew wherever Gene was stationed. He bought a van so Mom could see the country and they began driving to visit Gene's family. They'd head off on their adventures with me telling them to call when they got there so I could stop worrying & days later they would remember that promise & call to ease my mind. Mostly a baseball fan, he learned to watch football and golf so he could discuss games with Gary.
Daddy never, ever met a stranger. On hearing a name he could tell us who the parents & grandparents were, where they lived as kids, where they went to school, who they married and everything about that person. Going anywhere with him was a lesson in patience as you'd take a couple of steps, then stop to talk, steps, talk, steps & talk. Admittedly it was a little frustrating for a kid who just wanted to ride something at the county fair. When Lilly came along, he & Mom set out to show her every adventure possible. They picnicked at the Battleground, watched the giant turbines being trucked into Cliffside, went to flea markets and ate at every fast food & restaurant in the foothills of North Carolina & upper South Carolina. Their friends became Lilly's. Dad survived colon cancer at 82, never entertaining the notion it could possibly take his life. He refused chemo because it might make him lose his beautiful white hair, and three years later called me every day to check on my own cancer journey. He was more upset than I when we had to cut my hair & he visually measured it every time I walked in the door. He knew where all our childhood friends ended up & mourned those we lost. He would do anything for anyone & happily give them the shirt off his back.
He was the most curious, some might say nosey, man in Cleveland County. He read newspapers from front to back & did long division in the margins just for fun. He wanted to know everything going on & built his network to find out, even after the pandemic kept him isolated. He asked for & used the computer I got him in his early 80s and wore out a couple more. He wore his cell phone regardless of whether he would answer it or not. He could play any stringed instrument, including an old violin I got him somewhere along the line. He often said they had one as children, but it was broken when it fell off the pump organ. Yes, he had a keyboard he was once learning to play. A few years ago a neighbor had to rescue him from the roof of his workshop after he climbed up to move a limb & couldn't lower himself back down. I removed the ladders from inside the house when he said he was going to climb & fix the attic fan. Then I found out he was climbing them in the utility room searching for things on a shelf.
Mom's illness slowly stopped their travels, but he found other outlets to occupy his busy mind. Political smack down, Alaskan truckers, swamp people, the weather, blue grass on the radio, Uncle Buck & Uncle Jake on the phone, down home gospel and his special preachers on TV. He'd set his clock for 3:00 AM so he & Mom could listen to some far away country music.
As Mom got weaker and it was obvious her battle was ending, he sat with her, talked to her, reminisced, asked questions and yes, even argued with her. They were a team. We celebrated her 94th birthday on December 19, Christmas, and their 74th wedding anniversary on December 27th. Then January came and Mom could no longer go on. Daddy sat by the hospital bed we placed next to his recliner & held her hand. Complete opposites, my parents were together for 75 years, doing everything together. He was devastated he had stepped out of the room when the angels came for her.
When the singer Johnny Cash died his daughter Roseanne said she could live in a world without Johnny Cash but she didn't know how to live in a world without Daddy. I believe with all my heart that Daddy didn't know how to live in a world without his Joyce & made the decision to leave us. Now, like the singer's daughter, we are left to figure out how to live in a world without Daddy. "
Daddy's obituary was shared by Cecil & friends at the funeral home:
"AC "Tom" Parker, 95, passed away January 24, 2022. A native of Cleveland Co., he was born to the late Perry Green Parker and Ethel Morrison Parker. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his loving wife of 74 years, Joyce Peace Parker, brothers James Allen "Buck" Parker, Robert Lee Parker, Jesse Jack Parker, PG "Speed" Parker, sister Joanne Parker Nanney, daughter-in-law Joan Marie Maher Parker, sisters-in-law Lillian Mauney Parker, Maggie Mauney Parker, Jo Haynes Parker, Rachel Wright Parker and brother-in-law Martin Nanney.
Tom is survived by his daughter Judith Parker Proctor & husband Gary of Fallston, son Larry Gene Parker of Shelby, granddaughters Jeanmarie Parker, Megan Elizabeth Parker and Ashley Ann Parker, all of Shelby, great granddaughters Lilly & Violet of Shelby, brothers Glen Odell "Vop" Parker, Sr. of Lattimore, Billy Dean "Jake" Parker of Shelby, sisters Margaret Parker Williams of Greensboro, Jewell Aileen "Susie" Clark of Shelby, Mary Parker Denton of Lattimore, Betty Parker Green & husband Herb of Granite Falls, sister-in-law Lib Ogle Parker of Shelby and numerous nieces and nephews.
Tom proudly served his country in the United States Navy during World War II aboard the seaplane tender the USS Mackinac during the battles of Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. His ship preceded the USS Missouri into Tokyo Bay for the surrender, removing mines, bodies and debris to clear the way for the great ship. Tom worked in textiles most of his life, but retired from Copeland Industries. He could fix anything, play any string instrument, was a master gardener, loved Blue Grass and down home gospel music. He was a member Northside Baptist Church.
A funeral service will be held at 11:00 AM Monday, January 31, 2022, in the Chapel of Cecil M. Burton Funeral Home & Crematory Rev. Richard Stroup, officiating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. Burial will follow at Cleveland Memorial Park with full military honors..
Memorials may be made to St. Judes Children's Research Hospital 501 St. Jude Place Memphis, TN 38105 or Foothills Marine Corp League Chapter 1164 PO Box 2005 Shelby, NC 28150
Cecil M. Burton Funeral Home & Crematory is serving the family.
Online condolences may be made at www.cecilmburtonfuneralhome.com"
*************
Note: 16 February 2023 I had my Mom and Dad moved from their original burial site, Cleveland Memorial Park near Boiling Springs, NC, to Rose Hill Memorial Park Cemetery in Fallston, NC. It was a tough decision, but one that laid heavily on my heart for over a year. They needed to be closer to my home & the one they left behind. Those people involved in this move were the most respectful souls with whom I've ever dealt. From the gentleman who delivered the new vaults, the grave diggers, Jean Spence and the crew at Cleveland Memorial Park, Joey Tysinger with Stamey Tysinger Funeral home, all the Rose Hill crew, every one of these people worked to make sure my Mom & Dad were handled gently and respectfully. Each of them treated me and my feelings with kid gloves and walked me thru the process with compassion. My husband was with me every step of the way & this could not have been done without him. He supported my decision. He was at the original site during the disinterment and accompanied the hearses to their new resting places where I was waiting. It was a very emotional day, but made much easier with the love and support of everyone. I think Mom & Dad would be happy.
My tribute to my Dad at his funeral today, so hard, so very hard...
"Back in the early 1950s the three eldest Parker boys & their small families lived side by side on a little street in Shelby. Uncle Rob had a little house, while Uncle Buck lived in the apartment on the left and we lived between the brothers.
I remember lightning bugs in jars, Gene eating a shaker full of salt & my Dad's parents coming to visit, driving up in an ancient car. But my very earliest memory is Daddy & me walking out Parkview Street to Bethel Church one Sunday morning. Me in my navy blue cape & white beret skipping alongside my handsome Dad.
We moved to Lattimore for a couple of idyllic years. Grandparents up the dirt road, flowers & butterflies in the back yard, a calf named Buttercup, and of course the half of a box of ex-lax I ate during nap time, saving the other half for Gene.
We went on family outings to Green River and ate off the back of Tommy Hayes' flatbed truck; to Kings Mountain Battleground for Mom's family reunion; we fished in the creek & caught minnows for other trips. Tom, Joyce, Judy & Gene, quite often with cousins or neighborhood kids tagging along, were a team.
Daddy liked adventures & we were willing accomplices, turning down dirt roads just to see where they went, traveling back in time to see where he & his siblings were born, or where the "Old Man" helped build a house. We took a million trips thru the mountains with Gene & me giggling in the back seat sliding from side to side, or sleeping atop the mountain of linens needed for our camping trips. We chased the snow at Christmas & looked for bears in the summer. Life changed somewhat the summer Daddy bought a little boat & we began our journeys to Lake James. We camped, we swam and Daddy & I learned to water ski. Mom, in her life jacket, watched as Gene & I bobbed like carnival ducks in water that scared her witless.
Ours was the childhood of the 50s & 60s children. Our job was to have fun, listen to our parents and learn to do anything we set our minds on. Daddy didn't believe in the word can't. He felt we could do anything in life we wanted if we set our minds to work. Probably because he could. He could & did fix anything that came his way. We learned early on to be respectful, we didn't talk back & dreaded the look he would give if we did something wrong. Giggling under the Christmas tree while he was taking a nap before work got us the only spanking I remember, but I learned later on it hurt him much worse than us. We washed his white car with Comet, I broke the little vent window with my shoe; Gene & friends burned the shrubs while "camping" and thought he'd set the house on fire with a match and bricks. I'm sure we were punished, but how is long forgotten. Dad built Gene a go-kart and built us a sled for the snow, both were happy additions to the neighborhood.
Life changed yet again when we moved to the house on Scenic Drive. Quiet, so much quiet. He cleared the property & had a huge garden – year after year. He found a unicycle, brought it home & set about learning to ride that thing by hanging onto a tree limb; he rode a bicycle; he once painted everything in the back yard red because he had a can of paint.
He forgot the meaning of the word "no" when the Grandchildren came along, and he & Mom began traveling. They flew wherever Gene was stationed. He bought a van so Mom could see the country and they began driving to visit Gene's family. They'd head off on their adventures with me telling them to call when they got there so I could stop worrying & days later they would remember that promise & call to ease my mind. Mostly a baseball fan, he learned to watch football and golf so he could discuss games with Gary.
Daddy never, ever met a stranger. On hearing a name he could tell us who the parents & grandparents were, where they lived as kids, where they went to school, who they married and everything about that person. Going anywhere with him was a lesson in patience as you'd take a couple of steps, then stop to talk, steps, talk, steps & talk. Admittedly it was a little frustrating for a kid who just wanted to ride something at the county fair. When Lilly came along, he & Mom set out to show her every adventure possible. They picnicked at the Battleground, watched the giant turbines being trucked into Cliffside, went to flea markets and ate at every fast food & restaurant in the foothills of North Carolina & upper South Carolina. Their friends became Lilly's. Dad survived colon cancer at 82, never entertaining the notion it could possibly take his life. He refused chemo because it might make him lose his beautiful white hair, and three years later called me every day to check on my own cancer journey. He was more upset than I when we had to cut my hair & he visually measured it every time I walked in the door. He knew where all our childhood friends ended up & mourned those we lost. He would do anything for anyone & happily give them the shirt off his back.
He was the most curious, some might say nosey, man in Cleveland County. He read newspapers from front to back & did long division in the margins just for fun. He wanted to know everything going on & built his network to find out, even after the pandemic kept him isolated. He asked for & used the computer I got him in his early 80s and wore out a couple more. He wore his cell phone regardless of whether he would answer it or not. He could play any stringed instrument, including an old violin I got him somewhere along the line. He often said they had one as children, but it was broken when it fell off the pump organ. Yes, he had a keyboard he was once learning to play. A few years ago a neighbor had to rescue him from the roof of his workshop after he climbed up to move a limb & couldn't lower himself back down. I removed the ladders from inside the house when he said he was going to climb & fix the attic fan. Then I found out he was climbing them in the utility room searching for things on a shelf.
Mom's illness slowly stopped their travels, but he found other outlets to occupy his busy mind. Political smack down, Alaskan truckers, swamp people, the weather, blue grass on the radio, Uncle Buck & Uncle Jake on the phone, down home gospel and his special preachers on TV. He'd set his clock for 3:00 AM so he & Mom could listen to some far away country music.
As Mom got weaker and it was obvious her battle was ending, he sat with her, talked to her, reminisced, asked questions and yes, even argued with her. They were a team. We celebrated her 94th birthday on December 19, Christmas, and their 74th wedding anniversary on December 27th. Then January came and Mom could no longer go on. Daddy sat by the hospital bed we placed next to his recliner & held her hand. Complete opposites, my parents were together for 75 years, doing everything together. He was devastated he had stepped out of the room when the angels came for her.
When the singer Johnny Cash died his daughter Roseanne said she could live in a world without Johnny Cash but she didn't know how to live in a world without Daddy. I believe with all my heart that Daddy didn't know how to live in a world without his Joyce & made the decision to leave us. Now, like the singer's daughter, we are left to figure out how to live in a world without Daddy. "
Daddy's obituary was shared by Cecil & friends at the funeral home:
"AC "Tom" Parker, 95, passed away January 24, 2022. A native of Cleveland Co., he was born to the late Perry Green Parker and Ethel Morrison Parker. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his loving wife of 74 years, Joyce Peace Parker, brothers James Allen "Buck" Parker, Robert Lee Parker, Jesse Jack Parker, PG "Speed" Parker, sister Joanne Parker Nanney, daughter-in-law Joan Marie Maher Parker, sisters-in-law Lillian Mauney Parker, Maggie Mauney Parker, Jo Haynes Parker, Rachel Wright Parker and brother-in-law Martin Nanney.
Tom is survived by his daughter Judith Parker Proctor & husband Gary of Fallston, son Larry Gene Parker of Shelby, granddaughters Jeanmarie Parker, Megan Elizabeth Parker and Ashley Ann Parker, all of Shelby, great granddaughters Lilly & Violet of Shelby, brothers Glen Odell "Vop" Parker, Sr. of Lattimore, Billy Dean "Jake" Parker of Shelby, sisters Margaret Parker Williams of Greensboro, Jewell Aileen "Susie" Clark of Shelby, Mary Parker Denton of Lattimore, Betty Parker Green & husband Herb of Granite Falls, sister-in-law Lib Ogle Parker of Shelby and numerous nieces and nephews.
Tom proudly served his country in the United States Navy during World War II aboard the seaplane tender the USS Mackinac during the battles of Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. His ship preceded the USS Missouri into Tokyo Bay for the surrender, removing mines, bodies and debris to clear the way for the great ship. Tom worked in textiles most of his life, but retired from Copeland Industries. He could fix anything, play any string instrument, was a master gardener, loved Blue Grass and down home gospel music. He was a member Northside Baptist Church.
A funeral service will be held at 11:00 AM Monday, January 31, 2022, in the Chapel of Cecil M. Burton Funeral Home & Crematory Rev. Richard Stroup, officiating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. Burial will follow at Cleveland Memorial Park with full military honors..
Memorials may be made to St. Judes Children's Research Hospital 501 St. Jude Place Memphis, TN 38105 or Foothills Marine Corp League Chapter 1164 PO Box 2005 Shelby, NC 28150
Cecil M. Burton Funeral Home & Crematory is serving the family.
Online condolences may be made at www.cecilmburtonfuneralhome.com"
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Note: 16 February 2023 I had my Mom and Dad moved from their original burial site, Cleveland Memorial Park near Boiling Springs, NC, to Rose Hill Memorial Park Cemetery in Fallston, NC. It was a tough decision, but one that laid heavily on my heart for over a year. They needed to be closer to my home & the one they left behind. Those people involved in this move were the most respectful souls with whom I've ever dealt. From the gentleman who delivered the new vaults, the grave diggers, Jean Spence and the crew at Cleveland Memorial Park, Joey Tysinger with Stamey Tysinger Funeral home, all the Rose Hill crew, every one of these people worked to make sure my Mom & Dad were handled gently and respectfully. Each of them treated me and my feelings with kid gloves and walked me thru the process with compassion. My husband was with me every step of the way & this could not have been done without him. He supported my decision. He was at the original site during the disinterment and accompanied the hearses to their new resting places where I was waiting. It was a very emotional day, but made much easier with the love and support of everyone. I think Mom & Dad would be happy.
