Obituary of Charles C. Parker

PARKER, Charles C., 76, long-time resident of Tucson, passed away at his home in Tucson on March 29. He is survived by his wife of more than 55 years, Sandra; son Mark; and daughters Robin Caputo, Chris Kelly, and Cathy Lees, and 10 grandchildren, all of whom he fondly called "Fred". He is preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Josephine Parker, and his sister, Virginia Krick. He is also survived by niece Debbie Ostrander. Charlie was born in Lebanon, Missouri, to Charles and Josephine Parker. He attended one-room school houses in Missouri, and graduated in a class of 16 from Breese High School. He was a point guard on the high school basketball team, played saxophone in the school band, and was a member of DeMolay, the Masonic organization for young men. He met Sandy, who attended neighboring Trenton High School, at a band function (she played drums and flute). They dated in high school, and married a year after graduation in 1957. After honeymooning in Estes Park, Colorado, they returned to St. Louis, Missouri, where Charlie worked at Mallinckrodt as a chemical technician and Sandy worked at a doctor's office. First child Mark came along soon after, followed by Robin. Charlie and family then moved to Poughkeepsie, New York, and where Charlie started his career for IBM. Their love of travel started soon after - visiting the Eastern seaboard: Cape Cod, Maine, New York City, Catskills, and New England. He taught his kids to play chess and has a unique chess collection. He was transferred with IBM to the plant in Boulder, Colorado, and moved the family to Longmont. Daughters Christine and Catherine arrived soon after. Sandy became a full time mom - with lots of volunteer activities - while Charlie's career at IBM took off. He earned several patents, and would travel to Japan and all over the U.S. on business. He also aided in the implementation of solvent recovery plant in the IBM Boulder facility. Lots of road trip vacations happened - packing all four kids to in a Pinto to go canoeing in Minnesota, or driving to southern Mexico, or to boat in the San Juan Islands. Their love of sailing was rekindled, and they made several trips to the Virgin Islands and Bahamas, as well as closer by in Lake Dillon. Backpacking and fishing trips in Colorado and Wyoming were favorites. Charlie also got involved in the community, starting Boys Baseball in Longmont, and becoming involved in the Colorado Library Association. He and Sandy joined several of their friends to act in local community theater as well. The Parkers were well known for their theme parties, and Charlie for his practical jokes on friends and neighbors. But he was also well known for lending a hand to fix a faucet or shovel snow, or provide fatherly advice to a family friend's sons. Charlie and Sandy expanded the business side of the family, opening a laundromat and buying several rental homes and apartments. But soon IBM called again, and the family was transferred to Tucson, where Charlie was called to IBM in Tucson where it was building a new facility. Sandy gave up her job as Longmont City Councilwoman and went back to college, soon to earn her accounting degree and join Charlie with a career at IBM. They made friends quickly in Tucson as well, and continued to travel, with an RV, and soon a houseboat on Lake Powell. Charlie retired after 30 years with IBM, and Sandy took on a new role as worldwide auditor - which allowed them to spend the next five years traveling the globe. They lived throughout Asia (3 years) and Europe (2 years). While Sandy audited IBM locations, Charlie would scope out the local culture and restaurants, planning their weekends and vacations. And amazing vacations they had - from Hong Kong to Singapore, Thailand to Leningrad, Rome to Oslo, Borneo to Egypt, New Zealand to South Africa. They touched every continent except Antarctica. Charlie even took several trips on his own - driving TWICE to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska (aka Artic Circle), across the outback of Australia, and canoeing down the Zambezi River. They finally came back to Tucson - much to the delight of their children and soon to be 10 grandchildren, and began spending lots of vacations visiting family, hosting reunions with rented homes in Tahoe, Nevada; at an observatory B-and-B in Arizona; on the shores in Maine, Oregon and Seattle. Annual trips to Lake Powell on a houseboat for fishing and waterskiing was another favorite, as well as several trips to Hawaii and British Virgin Islands, and a cruise through the Panama Canal. (You should see their passports!) Unfortunately, diabetes and the need for three weekly dialysis treatments curtailed travel - although they still found a way for some trips to Oregon, Colorado and Nevada, scheduling treatments along the way. One of Charlie's dreams was to own an MG, and after his son Mark arranged for a ride with the British Motor Club, Charlie accomplished that dream and bought a 1953 green MGTD, and joined the local motoring club, going on several rallies and meeting weekly at a local coffee house. Sandy and Charlie were long-time avid University of Arizona Wildcat basketball fans with season tickets since 1981. Charlie suffered a heart attack and underwent bypass surgery in May, 2015, and for the next ten months he and Sandy enjoyed each other, their kids and grandkids with visits from all, went to ballgames, the theatre, out for sushi and Indian food, an air show, and even watched the Sand Hill cranes fly into Tucson. Charlie will be missed…by family, friends, neighbors and colleagues. He exemplified a live well lived. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Charlie's memory to DaVita Village Trust - Bridge of Life. Services will be at 2 p.m. April 16 at Bring Funeral Home on 6910 E. Broadway in Tucson and will be web cast. See this site on how to access the webcast.