Obituary of Mildred Parker

Parker, Mildred Jayne Age 93. Mildred Jayne Parker passed away on January 28, 2012 and joined the love of her life, John Parker Jr., who died in 1965 after an automobile accident. Mildred was born in Peoria, Illinois on July 3, 1918, a daughter of Sylvan and Kate Strum. Mildred's family lived in Verona for many years where her father was a coal miner and her mother was a nurse. Some things she enjoyed while growing up in Verona were going to silent movies with her dad and going to dances with her cousins and friends. When she was a teenager, she was part of a tap dancing team that performed at the dedication of the original Morris Bridge and the opening of Gebhard Woods State Park. She graduated from Mazon High School in 1936. She and John were married in 1939 at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. They were longtime residents of Mazon until they sold their home in 1961 and moved to Scottsdale, Arizona. Eventually, they returned to Illinois and owned a home in Morris. Besides her parents and husband, Mildred was predeceased by a daughter, Cory Lynn Parker; two brothers, Bill and Jack Strum; and a sister, Viola Carlon. She is survived by two sons, Dick Parker and his wife Jean of Morris, and Jeff Parker of Parker, Colorado; three daughters, Judith Rastl and her husband John of Portland, Maine, Janice Perry and her husband Chuck of Morris, and Diane McCarter of Phoenix, Arizona; eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Memorial gifts may be made in Mildred's name to Joliet Area Community Hospice, 250 Water Stone Circle, Joliet, IL 60431. In accordance with Mildred's request, there will be no funeral service. At a surprise party on her 75th birthday she thanked her children and told them her wishes. "This is my celebration," she said. Mildred will be missed by her family and friends. She will be interred next to her husband in Ward Cemetery in Verona. Arrangements by: FRED C. DAMES FUNERAL HOME 1201 W. Route 6 at Deerpath Drive, Morris For Information (815) 942-5040