John B. Parker's Obituary
John B. Parker passed away peacefully on October 23, 2015. Born on July 14, 1931 to John Bruton Parker, Sr. and Leah Carter Parker, John grew up in west Texas and New Mexico. John was a CPA and an attorney and a proud graduate of Baylor University. He was an incredible individual and a leader in all of his endeavors, intelligent, strong, compassionate, mentor to many and an entrepreneur from an early age continuing throughout his life. During grade school, he had many businesses from shoe shine boy, juggling, rat catching to paper boy. At Baylor, he built a team of young men who sold everything from sandwiches in the girl’s dorms to mums to Valentine’s candy to snow cones at football games. He made more money then than from his first job as an attorney at Arco! During law school, John joined the National Guard to delay being drafted until after law school. As a member of the National Guard, he participated in the clean up from the terrible tornado that came through Waco in the early ’50’s. After law school, John the enlisted in the Army and was pulled out of basic training to interview for the Army Counter Intelligence Corp (the predecessor to the CIA). He was accepted, trained and sent as a spy to the best duty station in the world at that time, Berlin. This was during the height of the Cold War, before the Berlin Wall was built and when refugees were flooding in from the East. He and a friend of his were listed as State Department, word civilian clothes and lived in a safe house with thirty-eight rooms and a cook, gardener and fireman to stoke the fire. After the army, he joined Arco in the tax section of the legal department, where he learned tax planning techniques for the oil and gas business. He decided he wanted to be more involved in tax planning and joined the Dallas office of Arthur Young. He was the third person in the tax department. Later He was promoted to partner, served as head of the tax department twice and was instrumental in building the best and largest tax practice in the Firm. By the time he retired, there were 165 tax professionals in the department. After his retirement, John and his wife, Leslie, became world travelers relishing in experiencing different places and cultures and traveling to 104 foreign countries. They traveled to all continents except Antarctica. Favorite trips were usually the last one, but some memorable ones include safaris in Africa, cruising down the Nile and Yangzi Rivers, journeys with the Transiberian Railroad, walking through the Alps and seeing ancient sites, such as Ephesus, Petra, Macchu Picchu. John was also active in analyzing and researching investments and belonged to several investment clubs. However, his chief passion was his Baylor Bears. He loved watching both the Lady Bears and men Bears basketball teams as well as the top-rated football team! John was predeceased by his parents, his oldest brother, Carroll, and his sisters, Lois Slater and Hope Kannenberg. He is survived by his beloved wife of 25 years, Leslie Finks Parker, his brothers Wendall and wife, Jane, and Robert and friend, Elizabeth Weiner, brother-in-law Scott Finks and wife, Jan, and numerous nieces and nephews as well as grandnieces and grandnephews. A Celebration of John’s life will be held on Saturday, October 31, at 10:00 a.m. in Restland’s Wildwood Chapel. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, at Restland Road, Dallas, TX 75243. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the International Mission Board designated for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offerings.
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