Charles Raymond Parker

Charles Raymond Parker, a native son of Texas and member of the “Greatest Generation” quietly entered into his final rest on Feb. 19, 2007 at the Chisholm Trail Nursing Home in Lockhart where he had resided the past two and a half years. He was born on Feb. 11, 1919.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Ruth Spradling Parker, to whom he was married on June 21, 1941

in Cherokee, Texas. He is also survived by son, Jimmy Dwayne Parker and wife Carla of Lockhart; daughter, Deborah Ann Carr and husband Ben of LaMarque; his brother, Bill Parker and wife Mary; two grandsons, Adam and Cody Carr, and three granddaughters, Lisa Parker Norris, Jennifer Parker Clemmer and Erin Parker; three great-grandchildren, as well as three step -granddaughters and eleven step-great-grandchildren.
He was born in Milam County, Texas, the second son of Perry Cornelius Parker and Pearl Roland Parker, in a family of five children. As a very young man during the Great Depression, Charles served a short time in the Civilian Conservation Corps, a government agency designed to provide training and employment for young men. There he learned the art and skill of setting rock, and his work can still be seen at Longhorn Cavern State Park between Burnet and Marble Falls, Texas.
Charles and Ruth began their married life in San Saba, Texas, before moving to Pleasanton, Texas, where he went to work for the National Soil Conservation Service. That job was interrupted by service in WWII in England and Europe in a glider division of the Airborne Engineers attached to the 82nd Division. He was gone exactly three years to the day in that duty, after which he returned to Pleasanton and his former job with the Soil Conservation Service, an assignment which later took him to Victoria, Texas and then to Alvin, Texas. In 1952, after several years with the SCC, he was offered a job with Phillips Petroleum in Alvin, where they lived for the next 28 years. Charles was a member of the Church of Christ, where he was a faithful and tireless worker since his baptism in 1954.
Charles learned carpentry under the tutelage of his good friend, “Pop” Dezso by helping build the first house he and Ruth owned in Alvin, Texas. He proved so adept and skilled at carpentry that he later went on to build and remodel their next two homes in Wimberley and Granite Shoals. His work was of such quality as to attract the attention of friends, who often engaged him to do building, remodeling, and finish work for them, in Wimberley as well as in other places.
Following his retirement from Phillips Petroleum after 18 years, he joined his wife in her hairdressing business in Alvin, a business they jointly operated until both their retirements in 1972, when they moved to Wimberley, Texas. There they built with their own hands a beautiful rock home on Cypress Creek. He later worked for the Coca Cola Company in San Marcos for two years before retiring completely. In 1981, they moved to Granite Shoals where they lived for 21 years. Following their total retirement, he and Ruth enjoyed traveling with relatives and close friends, touring throughout the United States in their RV. As his health began to fail, he and Ruth moved to Lockhart in 2003, where he entered the Chisholm Trail Nursing Home in June 2004.
A visitation was held on Thursday, Feb. 22, at the Eeds Funeral Home Chapel from 6 – 8 p.m.
Graveside services conducted by David Dugan of the Caldwell County Church of Christ were held at 1 p.m. on Feb. 23, 2007 at the Wimberley Cemetery, where he will rest eternally in the family plot beside his wife”s parents, Ben and Oma Spradling. All arrangements were with Eeds Funeral Home, 408 South Main, Lockhart, Texas 78644, (512) 398-2343.