David Charles Parker
What do you remember about David? Share your stories and photos here, and invite others to come share their memories.
David Charles Parker passed away on Monday, November 1, 2021 in Tallahassee, Florida. Born in Pensacola, Florida to David H. and Caroline W. Parker, he contracted polio shortly after birth. Determined that he would walk, his mother then implemented a rigorous physical therapy program that led to his being able to walk without braces or any assisting device for most of his life.
With high school friends he created a band, which led him to meet and eventually marry Wendy Lee Barnes, also of Pensacola, Florida. In time they had 3 children: Karen Lee Parker, David Livingston Parker and Charles Henry Parker.
Gifted intellectually, David earned various degrees from the University of West Florida, University of Florida and Florida State University. He was a PhD candidate in several areas, but didn't defend his thesis, thus never earning a doctorate.
Upon completing a Master's Degree in Political Science, the family moved to Kearney Nebraska, where David began teaching at Kearney State University. There Charles was born, completing the family.
In 1978 David moved his family from Kearney Nebraska back to Tallahassee Florida. After noticing that important information was being delivered via computer printout, David shifted his focus to the emerging field of Data Processing. Shortly thereafter he joined the Florida Department of Transportation.
Eventually, David left DOT. He built what became a very successful company based in North Carolina called "DPCi; Data Processing Consultants". His company was a source of immense pride as he often told his oldest son, "The harder I work, the luckier I get".
For the better part of the next three decades, he would alternate his time between Tallahassee with his son, and Greensboro, North Carolina working with his business partner, Eric Perdue.
After a few years of flying into Tallahassee on Friday on and out on Monday, David found the time and energy to reconnect with his old flame, Mary Givens. And he began working as an exhibitor at trade shows in Tallahassee when he had the time and opportunity.
Finally in 2019, he sold the North Carolina house and moved back to Tallahassee full time, in his old home. Now retired, he kept engaged in a more nurturing and caring lifestyle. He was there when all of his children made positive changes, with his daughter remarrying in 2020, the elder son becoming a nurse for a respected physician and the youngest graduating from Florida State University.
Waiting for David when he crossed was his beloved grandfather, Charles Anderson "Poppa Charlie" Ward, his parents, David H. Parker and Caroline W. Parker, his sister and brother-in-law, Jane and Bill Roberts, son-in-law Jeffrey H. Simons, grandchildren Hope Lee Simons and Austin Cloninger, grand-dogs Gretchen and Gracie Parker as well as Violet Simons. Also, the mother of his children, Wendy Barnes.
Surviving him are his daughter Karen and her husband Ed Markiewicz as well as sons David and his wife Dixie Parker and Charles Parker, and longtime significant other Mary Givens. Additionally left to cherish his memory are Nancy Simpson, her son Jeff Simpson and daughter Carrie Simpson. Considered to extended family is his business partner of 22 years, Eric Pardue with his wife, Andrea and daughter Adrienne. Also remembering in their own way are grand-dog Magnus Simons and grand-cats Goose Markiewicz and Heathcliff and Amanda Parker.
To the many lives he touched, David was a different man. He was their best friend, their confidante, a trusted elder, good friend and even, their father. It is in these different points of view, the different memories of him, is his legacy assured.
A Celebration of Life for David C. Parker will be held on Friday, November 19, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. with a small reception to follow. Friends are invited to join the family at Culley's Meadowood Funeral Home, 1317 Riggins Road, Tallahassee, Florida.