On October 30 of this year, I lost a good friend and a mentor Bob Parker that I knew for a little over 4 years. I met Bob at my first IT4Causes, Inc. PM meeting led by him as the Scrum Master and Tom Anderson as the Product Owner on October 8, 2019, in the University of Richmond. This first great meeting gave me the inspiration to obtain my CSM and CSPO certs from Scrum Alliance that would come in very handy at various IT4C meetings.

We developed good friendship and Bob, being PMP and MBA certified but infused with Agile values and servant leadership mindset through his life wisdom, was always eager to help me with understanding cumbersome Waterfall budgeting spreadsheets, train me on putting together client quarterly account review presentations, and even introduce me to my favorite software tool of all times for managing both work and life projects - Trello!

Bob did A LOT (with capital letters) not only during the Scrum of Scrums PM meetings that we had each week with him, Tom, me, and the rest of the IT4C team, but also behind the scenes to keep the organization running smoothly from the PMO tracking, budgeting, and compliance perspective. He was one of the most, if not the most, hardworking volunteers that I had ever met at IT4Causes helping Tom with various matters, including volunteer onboarding and coordination.

Bob was always punctual and was hardly ever late to the meetings. He was smart, enthusiastic, well-spoken, and always positive, calm, and rational, even when s#it hit the fan with a nonprofit client dropping off unexpectedly due to budgetary issues during COVID or due to volunteer capacity shortages that we worked hard to avoid.

Tom and I gave our farewell to Bob and expressed our condolences to his family on November 11 when we attended Celebration of His Life's Gathering at Woody Funeral Home. Bob will forever remain in my heart and in the hearts of IT4Causes employees, interns, volunteers, board members, and clients.

THANK YOU, BOB!

Like many I met Bob at the office. He was an amazing co worker. That is not what I will remember. My memories go to “he was one of my closest friends”.  We spoke almost daily and I will miss that dearly. He was the best of us.

I met Bob via a mutual friend while working at Altria about 16 years ago. He was the linchpin of one the best and most transformative teams I've been a part of. We enjoyed numerous lunches and business trips together, kibitzing about everything and sharing lines from our shared beloved comedy movies ("Well, we're waiting!"). After his retirement we managed to maintain our regular lunch meetings, solving the world's problems.  We shared so many good and difficult times together over a meal. And far too many meetings. He is deeply missed and will never be forgotten.

When I first met Bob I remember thinking "who is this guy, and why is he dating my sister?".  By the time Bob and Chris decided to marry, I knew they were perfect for each other. 

Over the years I watched Bob and Chris bring out the best in each other.  Their love and their strong values are evident in their sons, who are building their own loving families. I'm so proud of the great example Bob set as a husband, father, grandfather, and brother in law. He will be greatly missed but his legacy lives on.

Bob was a wonderful friend and mentor at Altria from 2000 to 2006. He joked that I shouldn't look up to him as a mentor because I would never get ahead because I would be too honest and irreverent like him, but that's what I always admired about Bob-- he told the truth and the truth was hilarious! He made working a corporate job at Altria fun. He was always supportive, smart, kind, and funny and very rarely stressed out. We often had lunch together with our other colleagues, worked together on teams, and I was happy to find out that our cubicles would be near one another. I think Bob is gone way too soon. The last message I received from him was in March on LinkedIn and he seemed happy. I've been surprised even though I haven't seen Bob in 17 years in person that I am grieving with a heavy heart. Bob was a quality person you don't easily forget in this lifetime. I wish I could be at his celebration of life! We had so much fun.

I am so very sorry to hear of Bob's passing.  I worked with Bob for several years as an Altria business partner.  We worked on several projects together and I remember Bob as a kind, funny, smart and fair person.

My condolences to his family and close friends.  Bob will be missed.

~Loren O'Connor

I met Bob when I started working at Altria back in 2010.  I was fresh out of college and was just starting to figure out the corporate world.  Bob was an incredible person and mentor - he had a way of interacting that immediately made you feel comfortable and listened to, while also being tremendously selfless in sharing both his knowledge, friendship and sense of humor.   He and I worked on - what was for me - my first large project in the "real world", and I admired his ability to rally a team, deal with adversity, and make sure everyone felt valued.  Although our careers took different paths, I also looked forward to the interactions I would have with Bob.  He was a real class act!

Don and I will truly miss Bob in our Osher classes. Always engaged, always asking well thought out questions that encouraged us to think differently. Always courteous and gracious and respectful. Osher has lost an awesome friend and member at too young of an age. Our condolences to his wife and family.

Johnny and I are so sorry on the loss of Bob.  We both loved Bob very much. He was such a wonderful friend and will be sorely missed by us. We are here for you, Chris, any time.  
We love you, Chris!   
Sending condolences to your entire Family 💜💜💜💜💜

I worked with Bob at Altria.  He was a wonderful man.  He always made me laugh and was very kind.  My prayers for the family.

So sad to hear we lost Bob.  I worked with him at Altria & I remember he was always smiling everytime I saw him.  He was funny, polite, & a hard worker.  

So glad he was able to retire early & enjoy life.  

God bless his family during this time.  Keep smiling Bob.

I was great friends with Bob for more than 50 years.  Over these last few days, I was thinking back on all the hysterically funny antics, memories and stories we shared together, and I can still hear, in my mind, his infectious giggle / laugh, which was so funny in its’ own right.  Now when I reflect on them, I just cry.   

For most of those years  we spoke almost everyday, just cackling away at the same old stories / themes…..but it was so much fun.

Bob had a wickedly sharp sense of humor that did not always endear him to his teachers or other figurers of authority, but did always greatly amuse his audience.

Over the years, Bob was invaluable in generously providing his counsel and advice in so many areas in which he excelled including personal finances, real estate, work strategies, etc.   …but alas, not golf 😊

Arlene and I shared so many great times with Bob and Chris when they lived in NY and were so sad when they relocated to Virginia.  However, we were subsequently so happy for them that they were able to create such a nice second act for themselves.

Bob deserves so much respect for his super disciplined approach to combating his kidney disease, including a very regimented exercise and diet routine for well over 20 years.

It goes without saying, what a great and devoted husband he was to Chris  and a loving and caring  father to Jeff and Jason (and little Bailey).

I will miss him terribly but I will always value our friendship, remember his advice and cherish our memories.    

Arlene and I send our deepest condolences and love to the Parker family.

Bob was an awesome person who gave so much of his time in retirement as a volunteer at IT4Causes, a nonprofit that helps other nonprofits with their technology needs.  Bob gave hours every single week, using his project management expertise to help us serve dozens of great charities in RVA and beyond.  He played a behind-the-scenes role, not looking for recognition for his faithful service to the community.  He will be sorely missed by our staff and volunteers.

We did a blog post on him if you care to learn more about his invaluable contributions to our organization and all of our nonprofit partners. https://it4causes.org/remembering-bob-parker-it4causes-volunteer/

The IT4Causes teams sends our deepest condolences to all who loved Bob.

OBITUARY

Robert Scott Parker

February 22, 1957 – October 30, 2023

Woody Funeral Home-Parham

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