Michael Wayne Parker, Jr.

Mike was the first boy born in both families in many years, so it was with sadness that the entire Parker and Knudsen families waved good-bye to him when they moved from his birthplace, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to Manhattan, Kansas, where his father accepted a position as a Captain in the U. S. Army as one of the chief psychologists at Fort Riley. There, Mike thrived in the severe winters and summers in small town, mid-America Manhattan (the “Little Apple!”). Always moving, never still, Mike loved sledding with his dad in the deep snows of Kansas and developed an innate desire to RUN. When the movie “Chariots of Fire” came out when Mike was four years old, Mike watched and listened as Eric Liddell ran full throttle, head back, as he said, “for God.” Mike’s first admission of his relationship with the Lord came soon after when he imitated Eric, running full throttle, head back, throughout our home shouting, “Look Mommy, I’m running for God, too!” And so began Mike’s race to get to Jesus…

Now, that path was not always straight and true, but two biggies in Mike’s life have always been honesty and loyalty. Through he was a bit of a Tom Sawyer throughout his life, Mike always knew something was missing. Growing up a military “brat,” he experienced the opportunity to make many friends wherever he lived, and to appreciate the different cultures found in Manhattan, Kansas; Monterey and Salinas, California; Heidelberg, Germany; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Anniston, Alabama; and, finally, back to his hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Being a military kid, Mike would say, made him tough and a very good, quick judge of character. Always taking up for the weaker ones, he became a fighter in every sense of the word. As an athlete, Mike was naturally gifted in many sports. In Germany, he learned to play serious soccer against very skilled German teams.

In Ann Arbor, he honed his soccer skills even more and took up ice hockey, as well. In Anniston, his skill as a gifted basketball player emerged, as his quickness and bold moves elevated him in every team on which he played. He could dunk, steal, and jump with ease and pleasure, though he was not always the coach’s player, but his own. On his award-winning travel soccer team, he was the ultimate striker, as his quickness was almost unstoppable. A fearlessness was easily recognized in every sport he played, but in his junior year in high school, he found his love: football. An aggressive safety, cornerback, and wide receiver, he relished every game, win or lose, and gave his all for the team.

Socially, Mike was everywhere…loving every minute with friends from every background. After graduating from Tuscaloosa Academy, Mike attended Ole Miss for three years, having a very good time there! And then, the Lord decided to take Mike on a harder path, one that would, in the end, bring him full circle to his early desire to run for God. After a diving accident, Mike became a quadriplegic for the last 20 years of his life. Though he fought valiantly to walk again, it was not to be. With the assistance of his best friend, Roosevelt Tinker, Mike graduated with distinction from the University of Alabama in the School of Commerce and Business (he never thought of himself as smart, but his effort his last year of college proved otherwise!). Then, a chance encounter with Chase Goodbread and John Copeland began what has become a popular, prime time Alabama football program, Crimson Cover, airing every Friday night at 6:30 pm on the U. of A.’s WVUA television station. Together the three of them have wowed their state-wide audience for over 14 years. Mike also found a friend and boss in Gary Harris, sports director of WVUA, as Mike worked as his sports researcher for many years.

For over two years, Mike went every Tuesday night to be part of an ecumenical prison ministry. Every week it was the same thing…on the drive to the city jail, Mike would bemoan the fact that he did not think he would have anything to say that would impact the prisoners in the cell block to which he was assigned. And, every week, when he returned to the car, he would marvel at how effective words came into his mouth…”Mom, I don’t know where those words came from, but they seemed to have a positive impact on those guys!” I would remind him how Moses said the same thing to the Lord, and that the Lord had, likewise, given Mike His words to say! Yes, he knew, lived, and shared the Truth.

Always more spiritual than he let on, Mike had a habit of listening to old Billy Graham classics, which greatly affected him. (His other favorites were CCR and Lynyrd Skynyrd!) After hearing Billy say that after accepting Christ as one’s Savior, one should be publicly baptized, Mike planned and was baptized on his home deck with buddy, Stephen Franklin, officiating.

When Covid caused so many to be forced to remain at home for too long, Mike was among them. During that time he developed serious health issues that eventually overcame him. However, with each new struggle, he seemed to lean in closer and closer to the One Who loved him like no other. With genuine true grit and unbelievable ferocity, Mike battled for years against physical challenges that would have overcome a weaker man. As his sister Isabelle often said, “He was the original tough guy!” Some of his best times were spent riding through the woods with his dad and trusty Golden Retriever, Bear, to visit Kermit and Duck at his hunting club.

Though he fought the good fight (and he was a fighter), his reward was to run like the wind, as he always loved to do, into the arms of Jesus. We all thank the Lord for his brief, but very important life.

Mike is survived by his parents, Dr. Michael and Lane Parker; his brother Frank; his sisters, Isabelle Silko (Chris) and Heather Summerford (Robert); his aunts, Linda Johnson (Sam) and Martha Kavanaugh (Michael); his nieces Annie Lane Silko, Aubrey Silko, Addie Silko, and Shelby Roberts; nephew Jud Roberts, a host of loving cousins, buddies Roosevelt Tinker, Robert Keat, Michael Blanchard, Rad Pruett, Tad Ferrier, Jimmy Mills, all his old buddies at the Chestnut Ridge Hunting Club; best friend and caregiver Jen Swindle; and special caregivers Jalessa Fikes, Shanda Johnson, and Kiley Adamson. Mike would also want to recognize his main “girls”: his mom’s Bible study group that prayed him into Heaven for many years!

To honor Mike’s memory, a fund has been established to support family caregivers of individuals with long-term care needs. To contribute, mail checks to the Parker Fund, James Houston Center for Faith and Successful Aging, 1678 Montgomery Hwy, Suite 104 #337, Birmingham, AL 35216 or click on jameshoustoncenter.com.

To view the tribute to Mike on Crimson Cover please click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN7uPgTcER0