Carl Duncan Parker

Carl Duncan Parker, 87, passed away peacefully on March 10, 2019. He is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 60 years, Margie Simmons Parker, who Carl affectionately called Petesy. He is also survived by his two children, Carla Sink and Kevin Parker, daughter-in-law Darry Parker, 5 grandchildren (Brian Sink, Eric Sink, Megan Sink, Christiana Parker, and Andrew Carl Parker.

Carl was born September 5, 1931 in the small textile mill village of Cordova, NC, the only child of Claud and Nellie Wright Parker. Though an only child, Carl was close in age to his father’s younger siblings, and always considered his uncles as brothers. He graduated from Rockingham High School in 1949, and worked at Rockingham’s water treatment facility before enlisting in the Navy in 1951. He served in the U.S. Naval Air Squadron, VS-26, as a Radar Operator in Grumman TBM submarine hunters. He flew off the aircraft carriers USS Mindoro and USS Salerno Bay, and his voyages took him to many ports in Europe, the Mediterranean, and Caribbean.

While in the Navy, Carl worked on a project with engineers from Grumman Corporation, discovering a love for engineering. When the GI Bill was extended to those serving in the military during the Korean War, he realized he had an opportunity to pursue an engineering degree. He was discharged from the Navy in November 1954, and enrolled at North Carolina State College in January 1955. He also discovered that the young daughter of long-time family friends had grown into a young woman, and he and Margie Carol Simmons began dating. Carl and Margie married in April 1958, combining their honeymoon with job interviews in Orlando, Florida and Camden, New Jersey. Carl graduated from NC State in May, 1958, and he and Margie moved to Orlando where he went to work for The Martin Company (now Martin Marietta), working on missile guidance systems. In 1959 Carl was offered the opportunity to return to North Carolina to pursue a graduate degree in Electrical Engineering at Duke University. He graduated from Duke in 1962, and took a position at the Research Triangle Institute, where he worked until his retirement in 1993. In that time he worked on a number of projects with NASA, including meteoroid detection sensors on deep space probes Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11.

Shortly after retiring from RTI, Carl was contacted by the International Lead Zinc Research Organization (“ILZRO”), where he spent almost 15 years in “semi-retirement” working on technical details surrounding lead acid batteries, including their potential application in the growing electric vehicle industry.

Carl and Margie have been members at Ridge Road Baptist Church since 1972. Carl served as a deacon for multiple terms, as well as on the Facilities Committee, and joined Margie in the Ridge Road choir. He was also a loyal member of the Seekers Sunday School class, serving as one of their teachers for a number of years. Since returning to the Triangle area in 1959, they’ve lived in Durham, Raleigh, and Cary, moving to Springmoor Retirement community in January, 2015.

In his last years Carl battled Alzheimer’s disease, yet he never lost his sense of humor, his kind and gentle spirit, or his love and affection for Petesy. The family would like to thank the caregivers at Springmoor for their patient, kind and compassionate care for Carl during his illness.

A memorial service will be held at Ridge Road Baptist Church, 2011 Ridge Road, Raleigh, NC 27607 on Thursday March 14, 2019 at 2:00pm. Viewing and seating begins at 1:30pm with a reception following the service in the Fellowship Hall. Burial will occur on Friday March 15, 2019 at 2:00pm at Eastside Cemetery in Rockingham, NC. A second visitation and reception will be held on Saturday, March 16, 2019 at 2:30 at Springmoor Retirement Community.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to any of the following: The Springmoor Endowment Fund, 1500 Sawmill Road, Raleigh, NC 27615, the Dementia Alliance of North Carolina, 9131 Anson Way, Suite 206, Raleigh, NC, 27615, or the Ridge Road Baptist Church General Budget Fund, 2011 Ridge Road, Raleigh, NC 27607.