JOSEPH W. PARKER
Feb. 4, 1954-Feb. 7, 2014
SEVEN SPRINGS -- Joseph Wright Parker, 60, Outlaw's Bridge community, Seven Springs, passed away early Friday morning, Feb. 7, 2014, at Quinn Hospice Center in Kenansville after an eight-year battle with lung cancer.
His life will be remembered and celebrated Sunday, Feb. 9, at 3 p.m. at Tyndall Funeral Home, and will be officiated by the Rev. Steve Grissom. A committal service will then follow at Outlaw's Bridge Cemetery, which will include Masonic rites and Sons of the Confederacy honors, after which the family will assemble at Albertson Missionary Baptist Church fellowship hall for a time of remembering Joseph with stories, both young and old, with food and fellowship, and the family welcomes all to join them there.
Flowers are welcome; however, the family suggests that memorial gifts be made to Albertson Missionary Baptist Church Building Fund, Carolina East/Quinn Hospice Care Center or Outlaw's Bridge Universalist Church.
His family and those in the community knew him as Joseph, while his tobacco market colleagues called him Joe, and his grandchildren called him Daddy-Ro.
A member of Albertson Missionary Baptist Church, where he had served as deacon, he was a member of Pleasant Hill Masonic Lodge 304 and the York Rite, and was a Shriner.
Raised on a farm on Sheep Pasture Road in Albertson, he followed in the footsteps of his late father, James H. Parker Jr., known as The Colonel, and his older brother in becoming a tobacco auctioneer and being involved in tobacco warehouse management, sales supervision and ticket marking at auctions.
He attended the Missouri School of Auctioneering, and like his Dad, he had attained the entitlement of "The Colonel," though he preferred to refrain from using that title, allowing his Daddy be known as the sole "Colonel."
He had been inducted into the Kenly North Carolina Tobacco Museum Hall of Fame for having been named Ticket Marker of the Year, had been president for at least 10 years of the Tobacco Ticket Marker/Auctioneer Association and was president of Outlaw's Bridge Industries for the last six years.
Not only were his auctioneering skills used as his livelihood, he also led countless auction sales for local benefits and fundraising activities, some of which include auctioneering at B.F. Grady School fall festivals for 38 consecutive years, and for more than 50 years, as service at Outlaw's Bridge Church harvest sales, as well as Seven Springs Fire Department causes, and over worthwhile events.
He had been associated with Boy Scout Troop 37 at Woodland Church for many years, lastly serving as committee chairman.
Too, he had been instrumental in the formation of the North Carolina Education Lottery.
Joseph is survived by his wife, Katie Jackson Parker of the home; two sons, Joseph Jackson Parker of the home and Amos Wright Parker and wife, Joy, of Panama City, Fla.; two daughters, Suzanne B. Taylor and husband, Clay, and Victoria B. Zell and husband, Alan, all of Greenville; seven grandchildren, Nalla, Cara, Cannon and Maverick Parker all of Panama City and Claybrook and Anna Taylor and Hiet Zell all of Greenville; his mother, Melba Cannon Parker of Albertson; a brother, James H. "Jimmy" Parker III and wife, Darlene, of Nashville, Ga.; a sister, Jean P. Stowers of Surf City; and several beloved nieces and nephews, two of which, due to the untimely death of their father, he was most influential in their formative years, Joshua James Outlaw and Jennifer Outlaw Bare.
A Tyndall service.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on February 9, 2014 11:36 AM