Jo Ellen Parker

Jo Ellen (Dunfee) Parker died peacefully at home, cared for by her daughters, in Seattle, WA on January 12, 2022 at the age of 82.

Jo Ellen was born on July 24, 1939 to Geneva Lyle Dunfee and Howard Krebs Dunfee. She grew up in Shadyside, Ohio, a small Ohio River Valley town near Wheeling, West Virginia. Her father was the Belmont County Clerk of Courts and her mother was a high school English and Latin teacher. In 1961 Jo Ellen graduated from The Ohio State University with honors, majoring in English and Home Economics Education. In addition to winning many academic and service awards, she was the President of the Pi Beta Phi sorority and a life-long Buckeye fan (Go Bucks!).

After graduation, she and three friends accepted teaching positions in Long Beach, California. It was there she met her husband of 53 years, Donald F. (Don) Parker, a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge. They married in 1963 and went on to serve at many duty stations including Washington DC, Ithaca NY, Brunswick ME, Rota, Spain, Newport RI, and San Diego CA before Don retired from the Navy in 1980. Don went on to become an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan and Dean of both the University of Wyoming and Oregon State Business Schools. During this active period Jo Ellen received a master’s degree in Consumer Affairs from Eastern Michigan University, worked on the program staff of both University of Michigan and University of Wyoming, and as a travel agent in Corvallis, Oregon. She was a life-long learner and passionate about education and travel, enjoying her work in all areas. Her family was always her top priority.

Jo Ellen was a relentlessly positive person whose glass was always “half full.” She enjoyed her family and friends tremendously, and, in her husband’s words, liked to “gallivant around the countryside” in search of adventure. She was intelligent, artistic, and caring, and often said her tombstone would likely read “Dependable.” She had a gift for making and keeping friends and was highly capable at work, in the community, and on the home front. She was quick to help someone in need, and was a skilled planner and organizer who managed her family’s many moves and life’s challenges with aplomb. Jo Ellen was an insightful, patient, and loving spouse and exceptional parent. Above all she was a joyful person who saw the best in others. Despite and throughout her illness, she remained a delight to be around: full of curiosity, opinions, enthusiasm, confidence, and good humor. She lived a rich, full life which she relished and, in so doing, set an example for those she left behind. She was a lot of fun. We miss her.

Jo Ellen is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Emaleen Dunfee Hoover and Thomas Hoover of Columbus, Ohio, daughters Margaret Parker Salop and her husband Paul Salop of Oakland, California, Emily Parker and her husband Chris DeVore of Seattle, Washington, and four grandchildren, Benjamin and Natalie Salop and Parker and Josephine DeVore.

Jo Ellen will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery with her husband, who preceded her in death in 2016.

Contributions may be made in Jo Ellen’s honor to The Ohio State University Mortar Board Alumni Scholarship Fund, Fund Number: 605046. https://www.giveto.osu.edu/makeagift/?fund=605046