Rev. Bill Parker Jr.

Rev. Paul William “Bill” Parker Jr. of Chesapeake, Virginia and Scottsdale, Arizona, aged 88, passed away peacefully on August 21, 2021, at Hospice of the Valley in Phoenix, Arizona. He was born in Portsmouth Virginia as the only child to Paul W. Parker Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Bradshaw. He was a proud Virginia gentleman, growing up and living most of his life in the tidewater area. Bill was a husband, father, uncle, grandfather, and a friend to nearly everyone he met. His primary vocation was as a minister of the word of God but his interests and life experiences were many and diverse. Against the wishes of his mother, he joined the 101st Airborne division of the US Army and served as a radio repair man in the signal corp. Honorably discharged in 1956 he resumed his formal education at The College of William & Mary. Bill’s love for Colonial Williamsburg and his alma mater were obvious to anyone visiting his home in Chesapeake. Following graduation, he heeded our Lord’s calling and attended Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. It is there that he met his wife Mildred “Mickey” Katherine Gooch. Seminary also combined his love for God and pipe organs and he became a master of this sacred instrument. Reverend Parker graduated from seminary in 1962 and served in many positions in multiple churches throughout his career in the ministry. One of his favorite positions was the Minister of Education at Churchland Baptist Church. There he spent a great deal of time with the children and youth of the church, ensuring them a good Christian foundation for their lives. Bill was also the director of the Baptist retirement home Emily Green Shores and an associate minister at Court Street Baptist Church in Portsmouth. Fascinated with history and aviation, he began building model airplanes from scratch as a young child and simulated cockpits of American fighter jets. Bill loved all of God’s creatures and enjoyed nature and animals of every kind. He also enjoyed photography, drawing, sketching, and painting. However, his passion was music, including organ building. He sang in a quartet as a young man and played many instruments but his favorite was playing the piano. As a young man, he worked several part time jobs assisting in organ building and restoration. Mickey was supportive in overlooking the many organ pipes, organ parts, and multiple types and sizes of pipe organs that occupied special places in their Chesapeake home. He even built organ parts and wires running beneath his house. Bill’s pride and joy was the Wurlitzer theatre organ which he spent decades rebuilding and loved showing it off. This organ was the centerpiece of the many music/organ concerts that Bill and Mickey hosted in their home. Later in life, Bill began traveling internationally with his daughter Angela and her husband Rob. During these trips, Bill stopped at nearly every cathedral and insisted on meeting the organist to obtain as much information as possible and sometimes getting a private tour of the inner workings of these beautiful instruments. Bill Parker had an insatiable thirst for learning. He was an avid reader and over his lifetime acquired thousands of books on architecture, religion, history, geology, music, pipe organs, and animals of every kind. He was a kind and gentle soul who would rescue and rehabilitate any stray or injured animal that crossed his path. He had a quick wit and a good sense of humor, enjoying and collecting old comic strips from newspapers. Bill was an avid woodworker, turning his garage into a well-equipped, personal woodshop. When he wasn’t working on the organ or reading or playing the piano, he could be found most evenings in his woodshop garage crafting something new. Bill Parker never met a stranger and was kind to everyone he encountered. Most of all Bill cherished his wife of nearly 60 years Mickey, son Paul, and daughter Angela. He enjoyed spending as much time as possible with them and accepted their friends with open arms and a loving heart. He ensured that Angela’s husband Rob was fully integrated into the Parker family and guided him through decades of life and mentored him as a second son. Bill Parker has been and will always be missed by those he left behind on earth. Bill’s death occurred during the global pandemic, August 21, 2021 and as a result we were not able to celebrate his life publically at that time. However, at the end of his life Bill was fortunate to have been surrounded by his supportive and loving family. He was predeceased by his parents whom he missed every day. His wife Mickey mourned the loss of her best friend and husband until she departed this world in May, 2024. Now Bill and Mickey are reunited in heaven. They are mourned every day by his remaining family, son Paul William Parker III, daughter Angela Blythe Parker Buch and husband Dr. Robert Jefferson Buch, and grandsons Parker Jefferson Buch and Gordon William Buch, as well as extended family and many dear friends. Family, friends, and others are invited to attend a celebration of life for Mickey and Bill Parker at Churchland Baptist Church at 2:00 PM on Saturday, September 28, 2024 to reminisce and honor their full and vibrant lives. The family suggest memorial contributions to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in memory of Mickey and Bill.