Delores A. Parker

Delores A. Parker, born to Lucille and Spencer Anderson in Rock Island, Illinois on May 9, 1927 has passed away peacefully in her sleep on May 12, 2023; she was 96. She and her husband Howard were longtime residents of Palos Verdes Estates in the Valmonte section; as they would say; they built their dream home in 1957 and it was “Paradise.”

She was predeceased by her husband, Howard K. Parker, in 2044; he was 81 ½. His mother’s name was Caroline. Delores’s parents have passed after retiring to Fort Collins, Colorado, many years ago.

Her beloved husband Howard graduated from the University of Redlands with a Bachelor’s Degree and earned his Master’s at USC; he taught elementary level science at several science centers in San Pedro and Gardena where children were bussed in on field trips. It was noted that the children never misbehaved because all wanted to return. The children would go out in the garden, aerate the soil with trowels, and interact with the many farm animals on site; goats really do have a personality.

Howard’s sister Helen was married to Fenton Fowler and was an executive at Standard Oil.  Their son Bruce is married to Wendy and live above Laguna Lake in Fullerton (Laguna Lake is on the Pacific Flyway and the bird watching is spectacular). Bruce has two children from a previous marriage to Janette and they are very successful. Lynn is married to Robert Wong and have two beautiful girls, Olivia and Julia.  Christine is married to Mark Fowler and lives in Virginia.

Howard serviced in the Navy during World War II in the Indo-Pacific Theater as an Ensign on an “Oiler” ship fueling other combat ships; he remembered they didn’t “hit much” during gunnery practice.

Howard and Delores leave two boys who are John H. Parker who is 70 and Jeffrey L. Parker who is 68. John was previously married to Beverly Hammer and have three children; Caroline is the oldest, married to Alan Morse, who is currently serving in the Army, and have two beautiful girls from a previous marriage; Alysa and Kalie. Breanna was married to Brian Player and have two wonderful boys Brody and Bryce.  Austin the youngest met his wife Alyssa on a Eurail Pass in Europe and have two children; Elizabeth and Joseph with one more on the way!

Beverly has a sister Jennifer Hammer Tamble who sadly has recently passed. Beverly’s mother was Sue Hammer and father was Don Hammer of Monterey.  If you remember the Steve McQueen movie, Pappilon, Don was the actor who portrayed the guard who accepted the blue butterflies on that remote island; he also had parts in Gunsmoke and Wagon Train.

Delores and Howard had longtime friends Betty and Mike Woods; they have two beautiful children Bianca and Zachary who will be enrolling in USC this fall semester. Howard met Mike thru Roger Mehrten in Germany in 1963 while teacher/principal on sabbatical leave (every seven years). Our family traveled to almost every country while there every chance we got.

We also returned to Bad Kreuznach for two years in 1974-1976.  Brother John and Jeff attended the University of Maryland in Munich.

Carol and Roger Mehrten were lifetime friends of our family and spent well remembered and cherished vacations at Zephyr Cove in Lake Tahoe and Hawaii.

Delores has four sisters that sadly predeceased her. Marilyn was married to Kenny Bush. Liz was married to Jim Lawhorn.  Marjorie was married to Bob Carlson; they have two girls Sarah and Lisa.  Lisa is married to Ed Goodale; their children are Meridith and Robin, whose husband is named Justin Attman; who have three daughters Kayla, Rylee and Skyler and one son Bentley. Meredith’s husband is also named Justin.

Sarah is married to Vince Van Damme.   They have three sons Tom who lives in California and currently works in the restaurant business; Brent who works for John Deere and Joe whose wife’s name is Tirzah and have a daughter named Ada.

The fifth and last sister is Lucille.  She was married to Dr. Chris Ghicadus and had six children. They are Ann who is is married to Mark Latrell and live in Seward, Alaska. Mark still resides in Salt Lake City and is semi-retired from the landscaping business; and Mary who also lives in Salt Lake has a beautiful daughter Anna Gretchen; sadly, her husband Bo Robertson has passed. Christopher was a painter and had to retire due to health issues. David and his son Andrew and his lovely wife Sara live in Bozeman, Montana. Cathy is married to Reza Hajjari and have two beautiful daughters, Jaleh and Mitra, who is married to Cal Fire firefighter A.J. He drives the large 4-wheel drive engine and will be Captain one day soon! Reza is a Cal Trans Engineer and we are very proud of him!

Howard’s mother was Caroline Parker; they lived in Long Beach and that was where Howard and Delores first met.  He knew that she was “The One” when he let her get away and moved back to Rock Island, Illinois. He hopped in a borrowed car and brought her back out here and they moved in with his mother. After getting married in Illinois, John came along first and then Jeffrey was born in 1954. Many years later my friend Mark Miller and I would ride our bicycles from P.V.E to Long Beach and visit “Granny” ; she always had hot cookies for us; then we would ride down to the Pike Amusement Park and ride the Cyclone Racer roller coaster!

Every year brother John and I would travel to Salt Lake in our Chevy van “Big Blue” to ski with the cousins and to visit with Dr. Chris and Aunt Lu (and to go 4-wheeling with Dr. Chris at the helm). We would also Solitude mid-week to go cross-country skiing with the cousins!

Mom and Dad and I would go car camping in Baja at San Quintin or at Quatro Casas which was that world famous surf spot at Punto San Telmo right on the original Baja 500 course.

Our family will always look fondly on Carol and Roger Mehrten; they were such good friends.  I will never forget when they were invited to the Pebble Beach Auto Show where they mistakenly entered the VIP tent and ate canopies until they realized their mistake; good fun!

Delores will be interred at Riverside National Cemetery with her beloved husband Howard; may they rest in peace forever and ever!

May their souls finally be joined together in Heaven.

John will be married to Cecilia Hamblet’s daughter Catherine in Maui in September; they are so happy and we wish them the best!