John Parker

John Gregory Parker was born on August 30, 1942 to Ronald Harley and Lucile (Pat) Chriswell Parker in Olympia, Washington. He joined his sister Sharon. Later, two other sisters, Judy and Paula, completed their family. His childhood was spent in the Buhl area hunting and fishing on his family’s Clear Lakes property. When he was 18 years old, he joined the Army and married Pamela Sue Waldemar. While in the Army, he served in several locales such as Okinawa and Michigan (during the Cuban Missile Crisis). He was stationed in Monroe, Michigan, when his first son, Ronald Gregory (Greg) was born. Upon returning to Twin Falls, Idaho, Kim Elaine joined the family. After a move to Colorado Springs to attend the Nazarene Bible School, Tracey Joy was born. A few years later, the family moved to Canada and John Stephen Boyd completed the family. While in Canada and upon his final return to Idaho in 1976, John worked for Safeway. He moved up through the chain quickly and managed the store in Burley, Idaho, for several years. In 1984, the family moved to Twin Falls, Idaho, where he began working for Latham Motors. He was often the Salesman of the Month and enjoyed his position and the competitive nature of sales. It was during his time at Latham Motors that he met his beautiful bride, Barbara V. Hall. They were married on November 19, 2000 and remained married until his death on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. John was a fantastic cook and an expert gardener. He could get anything to grow and made some of the best fresh salsa that several of us have ever tasted. Additionally, he took great pride in his yard and loved to spend time outside weeding and planting flowers and vegetables. He had already begun talking about his tomato plants for this year. One of the highlights of he and Barbara’s marriage was the time they spent fishing in Alaska. He loved the food, the scenery, and the camaraderie of the people he met there. They were able to go three times and would have gone again had his health not taken a turn for the worse. In the last few years, he struggled with several health issues due to a diagnosis of congestive heart failure. As a result, he was forced to stay much closer to home and live a more peaceful existence than he had probably planned. It was during this time that he began to cook daily for he and Barb, enjoy his pets, and take care of the house and yard to the extent he was able. Once he became too weak to do most of these activities, he still cooked lunch for Barbara on a daily basis. On the last day of his life, he had a great day. He mentioned that he felt like he could breathe, he made lunch, and even prepared a beef- vegetable soup for dinner. At 12:30am, he spoke his final words. “Barb, I am going to bed; if I fall asleep, please don’t wake me up.” He is survived by his wife, Barbara, as well as his four children: Greg Parker (Sue), Kim Parker, Tracey Meyerhoeffer (Chris), and John Parker (Jennifer). Additionally, he is survived by 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren, as well as several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, his parents-in-law, and his sisters. A viewing will be held on Friday, April 2nd from 5-7pm at Parke’s Funeral Home. Funeral services will also be held at Parke’s Funeral Home at 11:00am on Saturday, April 3rd.