William Merle Parker

In 1959, after serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict, Bill graduated from Gannon College with an Electrical Engineering Degree and started his first employment with Western Electric. He was working in Field Engineering at Eglin AF Base. While there, he was able to play a fair amount of golf in his spare time and also started to take up sailing.

In 1965 Bill started a new job with Grumman Aerospace in Bethpage (Long Island, NY). In 1969, “his team” received the APOLLO Achievement Award from NASA. Bill worked at Grumman until his retirement in late 1990.

He joined the Northport Yacht Club and got into serious sailing/racing winning quite a few trophies mainly the first year he owned his Pearson 10 M. There, went through the “ranks” and, in 1982, ended as Past Commodore.

In September of 1991, after building a new home in Fairfield Harbour (New Bern), NC, Bill and a friend took his new 39 foot trawler “Willing” to the Northwest Creek Marina in Fairfield Harbour, where the Parkers lived on the boat with their cat Mischa until moving into their new home in November.

Here Bill was active in the Fairfield Harbour Yacht Club and also joined the Fairfield Harbour Trap Club (now Bay River Trap Club).

After two bouts with cancer in 2001 and 2003, he eventually had to give up boating and concentrated on shooting. As a past president of the Club he got serious in shooting and earned a few trophies. In addition, Bill was a member at CCLEOA (Police Range) where he enjoyed coffee and doughnuts on Wednesdays and Saturdays with “the guys” until the end of last year.

Bill is survived by his wife Inge whom he was married to for 43 years and his two “girls” (cats) and predeceased by his parents and sister, Nancy.

No Service is scheduled at this time.