Obituary of Charles Harrell Parker

Charles Harrell Parker, (Chuck) passed away peacefully on February 5, 2019. He was 85 years of age. He was born on January 5, 1934 to George and Virginia (Osborne) Parker in Buffalo, New York. Both of his parents preceded him by death. Chuck met his wife Phyllis at Bennett High School and went to her church for the Tuxis youth group. Charles went to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and was a member of the Alpha Chi Rho Fraternity. He graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering. After they both received their degrees, they were married at Central Presbyterian Church in Buffalo, New York on June 18, 1955. They moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he attend the Industrial Administration Graduate School at Carnegie Mellon Institute. Upon completion of his degree they moved to Endicott, New York where he began his career with IBM for thirty years. The family moved to Stamford, Connecticut, Reston, Virginia and then came to Tucson in 1997. Following his career with IBM, he worked for the United Way in Tucson for nine years and for a number of Non Profit Organizations, until he fully retired. When he was a member of the Endicott First Presbyterian Church and National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., he served as an Elder and Trustee. Here at St Andrew's, he served on the Finance Committee. Chuck enjoyed being a member of the Men's Bible Study. One of his joys in life was playing sports and being a fan. During his college years, he was on the tennis team. Over the years he enjoyed playing baseball, basketball and volleyball. As a fan he cheered on the New York Rangers, the Boston Red Socks and the University of Arizona teams. For many years, he was an avid chess player. He also truly enjoyed classical music. Charles is survived by his loving wife Phyllis of 63 years of marriage. They have two sons Arthur Warren and Nancy (Sickles) Parker, Thomas Charles and Gayle (Behan) Parker, and daughter Cheryl (Parker) O'Connor and Jim (O'Connor). There are seven grandchildren: Luke Behan Parker (wife Jes), Benjamin Behan Parker (wife Sharon), Zachary Behan Parker (wife Christine), Nicholas Jameson Parker (wife Allison), Jacob Charles Parker, Brittany O'Connor Osiecki (husband Kyle), Ryan O'Connor and 5 great grandchildren. Charles/Chuck was a marvelous person who was dearly loved by Phyllis, Cheryl, Thomas, Arthur and all of his family members. He will be deeply missed. A memorial service will be held Friday, February 15, 2019 at 3pm at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in the Chapel with a reception to follow. In Lieu of Flowers, donations made be made to: St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church 7650 N Paseo Del Norte Tucson, AZ 85704 https://www.sapctucson.org/giving Casa de la Luz Hospice 7740 N. Oracle Road Tucson, Arizona 85704 https://casahospice.com