Person:Walter Parker (9)

!Walter always went by "Al". He was very active and loved to fix & build things. He had a crazy sense of humor! Shortly after his marriage he served active duty in the Navy. He worked for Ellis-Stone in Durham and a friend, Oscar "Buddy" Durham wrote him about a good job opportunity at Davis Department Store in Winston-Salem, NC. He moved his wife and baby daughter there and worked for the company for the rest of his life. He was a store manager and was also a merchandising manager. When he was working at the store branch in Thruway Shopping Center, he was robbed at gun point by two men. They tied him up with electrical cord and stuck him under his desk after forcing him to open the safe. He managed to work his hands free to call the police and he was unhurt, though pretty shaken! Fortunately, both men were caught and served prison terms. Al was very handy around the house and enjoyed working on various projects. At his home at 226 Foxcroft Drive in Winston-Salem, NC, he made a built-in wall unit in the downstairs den for the TV, stereo, etc. He connected a speaker to the kitchen, so you could hear the record player in there also. In the back yard of that same home, he made a brick patio/terrace of much of the back yard. He built a large screened-in "gazebo-type" building on the bricked in terrace. There was a dinette set in there with a barbeque grill and the family loved to cook out in there. It was great because the screen kept out the bugs. His children loved to play "house" in there. He amazed the neigborhood children by demonstrating cartwheels around the front yard! It was while living at this house that he taught his daughter how to ride her bike. He spent endless hours holding on to the seat of the bike, running up and down the road until Darlene got the hang of riding! The family lived at this house for about five years. Greg was born while living at this house. The family then moved to 6641 Grasmere Court in nearby Clemmons, NC. They bought the home in the early stages of construction, so Al and Phyllis were able to choose their colors, carpet and such. The family went over nearly every day to see what progress had been made. Later, Al built on a double-car garage, with Phyllis handing him up supplies. They fenced in the yard and did extensive landscaping. Al also built on a large deck. He also enjoyed making some of their furniture. It was at this house that Al became ill, to die 10 years later. Al used his GI Bill to take flying lessons. He thoroughly enjoyed flying small planes such as a Cessna and a Cherokee Piper Cub. He would fly solo sometimes, but often took his family flying with him. At age 39, he developed Guillian-Barre Syndrome. Though he did recover enough to go back to work, his health never did fully recover and other complications evolved. Ten years later, at age 49, he died in Forsyth Memorial Hospital. He was buried in Clemmons Baptist Church Cemetery. His obituary appeared 2 Feb 1984 in the Winston-Salem Journal. Excerpts from it state: "He received an Associate Degree in Applied Science from Forsyth Technical Institute in Electronic Data Processing in Business...He was a licensed private pilot. He was employed as the division merchandise manager for Davis Department Stores. He was a member of Clemmons First Baptist Church."