KEVIN HOWARD PARKER

Kevin Howard Parker, 54, passed away on Friday, August 13, 2021, in Val Alstyne, Texas where he has lived for many years. He was born to Phillip Lane Parker and Rose Mary Stricker on February 5, 1967, in San Antonio, Texas.

Kevin spent his childhood years in Fayetteville, North Carolina among the large Parker family and then his family moved back to Texas and made their home in Bandera and then Pipe Creek among the even larger Stricker family. He played high school football, basketball and baseball for the Bandera Bulldogs and football at Tarkio College in Missouri. He retained a great love of sports throughout his life, including his beloved Redskins. He had a photographic memory when it came to sports and could reel off all kinds of sports stats from memory, from he and his brother’s little league, high school and college careers all the way to national teams. One of his favorite pastimes was to spend time with his beloved brother, “Stevie”, and debate and argue about all things sports. He loved hunting and fishing and would then torture the rest of us by posting photos of the delicious meals he made from his catches. His soft heart and love of animals, however, kept him from being a true hunter, because Kevin would have Stevie handle the shooting. Kevin was a voracious reader. Many a conversation with Kevin began with him asking what a person’s favorite book was or what was the last book they read. Some of his favorites included “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” by Mitch Albom, “All Things Great and Small” by James Herriot, “The Mysterious Stranger” by Mark Twain, “The Whistlestop Café” by Fanny Flagg as well as “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” by Homer.

A casual observer might take Kevin’s half-North Carolina, half-Texas Hill Country accent as a sign of low intelligence, but they would be sorely mistaken. Kevin could think up a come-back at the drop of a hat, almost like he had already thought of it before the other person had even spoken. Anyone who knew Kevin, even in passing, would know that he had a larger-than-life personality and sense of humor. Anyone who knew him well would know that he had a heart as big as Texas and was always ready to come to their aid if needed. As Kevin would say, he “had your back.”

Kevin was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Adolph Julius Stricker and Harriet Inez Buck of Bandera, Texas and his paternal grandparents, Terry Wilson Parker and Kathleen Smith of Fayetteville, North Carolina as well as his father. He is survived by his mother, Rose Mary Stricker of Pipe Creek, Texas, his brother Steven “Steve” Michael (Lisa Vakey) Parker of San Antonio, Texas, his sister, Christy Leigh Parker of San Marcos, Texas, his niece Sydney Alaina (Coleman Wayne) Rogers of Pipe Creek, Texas, his nephew, Ryan Michael Parker of Yoakum, Texas , his grand-niece Alaina Marie Rogers, his beloved dog, Bella, and many, many uncles, aunts and cousins.

A memorial service will by planned in the future.