TOMMIE LEE PARKER (TOM)

Tommie Lee Parker (Tom) born 08/15/1935 in Coleman Texas was the youngest son of Myrtle Maude Boyd Parker and Oscar Maines Parker. He met the love of his life Dorothy Lee McShan during freshman year at Ballinger High School. He was a tackle on the 1953 Ballinger Bearcat championship football team and went on to be on the 1st team All State football team. He was awarded a football scholarship and graduated from McMurry College in Abilene Tx where he graduated with his BS in Business Administration. Tom and Dorothy married in December of 1954 and lived for several years in Abilene where he worked in the oil and gas industry and they began their family, daughters Janice Elaine and Cheryl Sue. Tom joined the Masonic Lodge which lead to an introduction to the President of Valley Baptist Hospital in Harlingen Tx. Shortly after this introduction the Parkers moved to Harlingen. Tom eventually became Vice President.

Tom was a life-long learner and mentor to many. Tom was partners in a scuba shop and was a scuba instructor. He learned photography and set up a darkroom in their home in Harlingen, learned to fly small planes and got his pilot’s license, learned to sail, and enjoyed sailing in the waters off South Padre Island, studied history with a special interest in old Mexican and Texas history which earned him the nick name “Mr. Texas”, and researched genealogy until he found every gravestone in backyards from Texas to Tennessee.

Tom and Dorothy left the Valley in 1980 and Tom finished his career in Hospital administration at Presbyterian of Dallas. Tom was instrumental in the expansion of that medical center, coordinating the building of professional buildings, additional hospital wings including the Margot Perot Women’s and Children’s Center and the Findlay Ewing Cardiovascular Rehab Center. He received his MBA from Pan American University in Brownsville in 1982.

In 1993 Tom and Dorothy retired to the Texas Hill Country where Tom continued his post graduate education and he began to design and build the home where he lived out his life in the loving care of his wife Dorothy.

Tom is preceded in death by his parents Oscar and Myrtle Parker, sister Mary Neal Parker Bolton, brother Jerry J. Parker Tom is survived by Dorothy his wife of 67 years, daughters Janice Stephenson (Greg) and Cheryl Baker, grandchildren Jett Baker and Kathryn (Katy) Baker, nieces and nephews Jerri Kim Parker, Bruce Parker (Becky), Patricia (Trish) Parker Dinnell (Donnie), Larry Bolton

(Janet) A Visitation will be held on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, from 10:30 am-11:30 am at Grimes Bandera Funeral Chapel, followed by Graveside Service at Pipe Creek Cemetery.