Gary Lane Parker entered this world on St. Patrick’s Day, Friday, March 17, 1950 at 3:44 pm at Mercy Hospital in San Diego, California to George and Eva, fondly known as “Avis” Parker. He was a little guy, weighing in at 6 pounds and 12 ounces. He was a true toe-head in his early years, but his hair turned to a very dark brown as he got older. He was always a thin, scrawny kid. He was sandwiched in between his “favorite” older sister, Linda, and his “favorite” younger sister, Gail. Gary lived with his family in El Cajon, California until he was ten years old, at which time they moved to Anaheim, California. In August of 1964, when Gary was 14, his dad got a job building the first brick homes in Hawaii on the Island of Oahu. The family moved to Oahu and lived in the town of Aiea until 1966. He was 16 when they moved back to Anaheim, California. They lived with his grandmother in Chula Vista for 3 months until they returned to their home in Anaheim. Gary’s favorite subjects in school were art and woodworking. He also dabbled in poetry. He loved surfing as a teenager.
After his high school graduation from Katella High School in Anaheim, CA, in June 1968, Gary enrolled at Fullerton Jr. College where he studied for one year. During this time, he started a Chevy car club with a few of his high school and college friends. They named the club Seagrams. All of the club members had their own special jackets with Seagrams written in large letters across the back.
He enlisted in the US Marine Corps on September 12, 1969. He did his boot camp training at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, known as the West Coast’s Premier Fleet Marine Force Training Base. He served in the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines during the Vietnam War. He entered in the rank of Private E-1 and exited as a Lance Corporal. While in Vietnam, he served on the frontline for six months and was then transferred to an administration position as Proof Director of the Military Service Records Book, Awards Clerk and Orders Clerk because he knew how to type from having taken an Administration Clerk Course. Gary served in the US Marine Corps Reserves from June 12, 1971 until June 15, 1975 when he was Honorably Discharged.
He received the following medals, badges and ribbons:
-Good Conduct Medal.
-National Defense Service Medal.
-Vietnamese Service Medal.
-Combat Action Ribbon.
-Vietnamese Campaign Medal.
-Rifle Marksman (Specialty No. 0311 Rifleman).
-Meritorious Performance Award.
Gary attended Cypress Jr. College for a short while after being discharged from the Marines.
He married Joyce Lynn Esposito on December 4, 1976. They were the proud parents of Justin Lane (12.25.1978), Garrett Keith (5.22.1982) and Nicole Lynn (2.9.1990). He loved coaching Justin’s and Garrett’s little league baseball teams when they played on the Olive Little League AA Cubs (1990-1991), and enjoyed attending all of Nicole’s many dance recitals during the years she studied at Christine’s Dance Studio. He loved spending time with his children and was so very proud of them! One of his happiest moments was when Nicole presented him with a grandson, Landon Jax Villalvazo, on May 6, 2018. Next to his children, Landon was one of his greatest joys!
Gary’s first job during high school was at Thriftimart Grocery Store off of Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim. He and two other employees were robbed one night and locked in the freezer! He was a big dreamer with an entrepreneurial spirit. Being a builder was his chosen profession, following in the footsteps of his father. Gary started several building companies: Born Builders, Afterwood Fine Carpentry, Woodways, Justin Wood, Absolute Details and Allwyn General Contractor. He used his creative touch to apply names that were special to him. Following his building career, he became a salesman, quite appropriate, as he loved working with people. He sold vinyl windows, siding and text coating for Amre. Gary won top salesman in their Circle of Champions three years in a row, winning vacation trips for his efforts. He and Joyce traveled to Acapulco (1.4.1993), Jamaica (12.11.1994) and Cancun (12.4.1995). Gary also worked for Sears as a Sr. Inspector & Sales Consultant for a short time; he started Kid’s Sake, selling children’s ID bracelets; he had a vision to start BE GINN ING S, a coffee café with the motto “If a person doesn’t have a smile, give them yours!”, but it never took off; The Fortress Investment Group, Inc., another company that didn’t materialize; he also worked for Ganahal Lumber; then at Ralph’s for a short time; and finished off at Hardin Honda before retiring. After retiring, he continued to do various building jobs as he was able.
He had fun times boating and owned a few boats, but he most especially loved Chevy cars. His first car in high school was a Chevy Malibu. Over the years he owned a 1929 Chevy Truck; a 1968 Green Camaro; a 1969 White Corvette Stingray; a cocoa brown 1971 Chevy El Camino (Because of this, his older son Justin purchased a 1971 black El Camino. His younger son, Garrett, followed suit, and got one that he and his dad restored from turquoise and no engine, to a strong running blue metallic.; a 1976 Chevy Cheyenne; a 2000 Suburban; a 2001 Yellow Corvette; and a 2014 SRX Cadillac SUV. His last dream was to own a Chevy Tahoe, but that remained unfulfilled.
Gary had a great love for animals. He would bring home stray animals all of the time. One time, he brought home a black dog they named “Three Day Night” because he said they would only keep him for three days, but it was much longer than that! Also included in their family menagerie were Calico, a blue and gold Macaw; Cloudy, a Maltese dog; Ginger, an Afghan dog; Monique, an English Sheep Dog; Crystal, a white Persian cat; and Ester Lee, the parakeet. Gary would sing to her and she would lay eggs! In keeping with their Parker Zoo, he also added guinea pigs, rabbits, snakes, rats, chameleons, iguanas, and a Savannah Monitor! Grady, a Cairn Terrier, was to be his last pet.
Music made him happy and he enjoyed all genres, but most especially the trumpet and sax. He would always comment on a memory and sing along with songs as we were driving. Nicole, remembered when she was younger and driving in the car with him how they would sing “The Chair” by George Strait, who was his favorite Country & Western singer. His cousin, Rena, also remembered one year while attending college and staying with Gary and his family, how he rode his bike circles around the driveway singing “Gary, Indiana” after having seen the 1966 movie, “The Music Man”.
One of his hobbies was collecting T-shirts from restaurants and places he had visited or wanted to visit. His sister, Gail, would take him on day road trips where they would lunch at his favorite restaurants or new ones she would choose. Of course, he also had t-shirts of his favorite teams, the Minnesota Vikings, San Diego Chargers and the San Diego Padres. Gary was a very social person, a “people lover”, and it gave him great joy to purchase sports t-shirts for his resident friends and workers at Hollybrook Senior Living where he once lived.
About six years ago, Gary and his high school/college friends, Phil Shirreffs, Steve Hill and Vince Heilsen, started a club they called “Club 50” because they were all born in 1950. They made it a point to get together once a month for lunch. Gary always looked forward to getting together with them.
Something Gary really wanted to accomplish was to celebrate his 70th birthday. This was very important to him! His dream came true. He enjoyed a big Happy 70th Birthday party at his sister Linda’s and her husband Jan’s home on March 17, 2020. He had a joy filled day celebrating with a large gathering of family and friends!
Gary was plagued with health issues starting with his first heart attack in 2002, attributable to Agent Orange from his service in Vietnam. He had another stroke and heart attack in December of 2010, and continued to struggle with more heart issues in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017. Over the years, his sisters made many trips to the VA Hospital in Long Beach with him. Then in 2019, he suffered multiple heart attacks followed by three Code Blues. We thought we had lost him. He was on full life support, but had such a zest for life and a will to live that he pulled through, gradually being taken off of everything!! Sadly, he suffered another stroke on June 17, 2020, which left him unable to speak. He first communicated via “thumbs up”, then gentle “hand squeezes” and then just closed his eyes, though we knew he could hear us. Gary gave up his struggle on June 21, 2020 at 4:24 pm. His son, Garrett, and his sister Linda spent three hours with him that morning. That afternoon, his son, Justin, his daughter, Nicole, and his sisters, Linda and Gail were with him when he peacefully took his last breath.
Gary had a memory for things that amazed us all! He fought the good fight, never giving up, always with a positive attitude and a smile! He embraced life with “fortitude”, i.e., “the strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage”, that was our Gary! We loved him and will miss him dearly!
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