James Robert Parker

Dad... passed away peacefully July 23, 2013. Although the last several years were hard for him living in a body fairly healthy but with his brain not always cooperating the way he wanted. Dad was born in Kansas City, MO, March 3, 1924. He had seven siblings...George, Edward Owen, Tom, Charles, Margaret, Mary Lee, and Gary. He is survived by his brother Gary who is here today. Dad had 3 children, myself, Tom and our oldest half sister Laura; 4 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. In 2000, he and Philomena his wife of 52 years moved to Oregon to be closer to us. Dad hated the rain. He endured it, made the best of those dreary months by working in his wood shop and as Deacon Jim will testify, later made over 800 crucifixes which are now I've heard been delivered all over the world. Dad loved working with his hands and had to always be busy doing something. He was an organized person to a fault but taught me much about everything having its' place and if not ""get rid of it!"" The day after dad's 17th birthday he enlisted into the Navy. His parents had to sign a special waiver because he was under age but begged them to let him enlist. Dad was stationed on the USS St. Louis in Pearl Harbor the day it was bombed, Dec 7, 1941. He was so young and of course extremely traumatized from this historical and tragic event. No matter how bad his memory became he could recall that time like it happened yesterday. Dad was a great patriot, being a Pearl Harbor survivor. He loved this country....A real live hero to us!! Dad told many stories of his Navy days which were published in many local papers and journals. After serving 4 years in the Navy he came home and started living the life of a civilian of which he adjusted very well. He met my mother and they were married in 1953. Dad was a prolific writer and story teller. One of his short stories was called ""Justice on the Jackson"" where he just happened to discover that the person who stole a bike from his father's bike shop many years prior was none other than the man cutting his hair on the Jackson during World War II in the Pacific, thousands of miles from home! He didn't go into much detail about what happened next but....Hence the name of the story. Dad loved to write short stories of his childhood. He wrote of when his mother asked the electric company for a set of those ""jumper"" cables to reduce their electric bill like everyone else in the neighborhood had, only to find out they were illegal! I treasure those stories and always loved hearing them. Dad was the type of person that was larger than life. He would walk into a room and you knew he was there. There was never such a thing as a stranger to dad. He would walk up to anyone and engage conversation with them finally asking them their faith, then running out to his car giving them one of his crucifixes. Got a little difficult later on due to him becoming hard of hearing. But he learned to read lips very well. Still never stopped him from always meeting someone. Dad's faith was important to him. He was baptized as a baby into the Catholic church. God adopted dad into those waters, signed and sealed with the blood of Jesus. Adopted by God he gave dad an inheritance in heaven that can not fade, spoil or perish. Now he has realized that inheritance at Jesus' side with all those who have fallen asleep in Jesus before him. He is starting a new beginning. Wrapped in his Savior's arms. In John's Gospel chapter 14 verses 2 & 3 Jesus told us: ""In my Father's house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also. Sir Winston Churchill once said ""All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."" Words that reflect what dad really believed in. May we seek solace in these words of wisdom from Thornton Wilder: ""The Greatest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude"" Dad I am so grateful for having known you!!! For having you as my father. Thank you for all that you have done for me and so many others whose lives you have touched in some way or another. So, dear father, we say goodbye for now... till we meet again to walk the streets that are paved with gold. **Please note that the service time has changed from the original publication in the newspapers**