Linda Gay Williams Parker

Linda was born in Dothan, Alabama on January 15, 1944. She graduated from Carroll High School in Ozark, AL in 1961. While in high school, she played the piano in Sunday school at the Ozark Baptist Church and for her family on Sundays; she also played the clarinet in the high school band. Linda even learned to fly Cessna aircraft at Blackwell Airfield in Ozark and earned her solo pilot’s license.

After high school, Linda attended Sullins College in Bristol, Virginia. There she loved to take ballet. Linda then transferred to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa where she received her Bachelor of Arts in English in 1965. While at the University of Alabama, Linda was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority. She also had the honor of being selected as a sponsor of the Air Force ROTC.

After graduating from college, Linda traveled to Europe on a tour with other college graduates from around the country. On that trip, she met Thomas Hackney Parker of Wilson, North Carolina. They were married on February 11, 1966. Together they raised three children: Gay, Hackney, and Susannah. The Parkers lived for many years in Warsaw, NC where they were members of the United Methodist Church. While in Warsaw, Linda performed in the community theater in Kenansville. She was also a long-time member of the handbell choir for the United Methodist Church. In 2009, Linda and Tommy moved to Wilmington, NC where she played in the handbell choir for the Wrightsville Beach United Methodist Church. She was also a docent for the Latimer House in Wilmington, NC. In 2019, Linda moved to North Topsail Beach, NC where she resided at the time of her death. There she enjoyed watching the egrets that would visit the marsh.

For most of her life, Linda was an English teacher. She taught at Harrells Christian Academy in Harrells, NC for many years, then James Kenan High School in Kenansville, NC. She was an exceptional teacher with a mastery of grammar and an intense love and knowledge of Shakespeare, literature, and Greek mythology. At the end of her life, despite being sick, she still recited her favorite William Shakespeare sonnet (“Sonnet 116”) to a nurse and then explained to him a nuanced and often misunderstood part of Romeo and Juliet. Her passion for teaching was an inspiration to her beloved students.

Linda also loved history, antiques, playing bridge, and traveling with her family; and she was an avid reader until the end. She adored animals, especially her cherished cats. Most of all, she loved her family.

Linda is preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Hackney Parker; her parents Leadell Dameron Williams and Bryant Fleming Williams of Ozark, AL; her brother Raymond Williams of AL; her sister Merry Dixon of AL; and many beloved pets, especially her brown Siamese cat, Kiwi.

She is survived by her children Gay Parker Stanley, wife to James Roy Stanley, III of Goldsboro, NC; Thomas Hackney Parker, Jr., husband to Jennifer Ray Parker of Ocean Isle Beach, NC; and Susannah Parker Reynolds, wife to Aaron Lloyd Reynolds of Wilmington, NC; her granddaughters Catherine Parker Stanley and Lillian Isabel Stanley of Goldsboro, NC; her brother Bryant F. Williams, Jr. of Ozark, AL; her sister Cynthia Nemish of Orange Beach, AL; her sister Sylvia Dodgen of Orange Beach, AL; and her beloved feline children BamBam and Luke.

A graveside service will be held at Oleander Memorial Gardens in Wilmington, NC at 1pm on Monday, March 22, 2021.

“Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say goodnight, till it be morrow.” – William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet