Kerry L. Parker
Rev. Kerry Parker was born on June 20, 1948, at Moon Lake, Mississippi. Some referred to him as “The Caboose” because he was the eleventh and final child of J.B. and Gertrude Parker. His earliest memories were of Holly Grove Farms, where his father served as manager. When his father left farming to work for the county, the family moved to Pleasant Grove.
Two months after his fifth birthday, Rev. Parker entered first grade—not because he was exceptionally advanced, but because there were only four students in the class. The school needed every child to remain open. He attended junior high school in Sardis, Mississippi, and later graduated from North Panola High School in 1965.
At the age of seventeen, Rev. Parker joined the United States Marine Corps for four years, serving twelve months at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and thirteen months in Vietnam. After returning home briefly, he traveled and eventually settled in Strathmore, California. At the end of May, during a sectional youth day evening service, he met Becky Morrison. After dating for only one month, they were married in 1971. Their beloved son, Michael, was born nearly five years later on Veterans Day and was adopted by Rev. and Mrs. Parker when he was ten days old.
The Parker family lived in Batesville, Mississippi, during the early 1970s. In 1975, Rev. Parker had the privilege of preaching the service during which his mother and father prayed through, a moment of great rejoicing. Following the service, they renewed longtime friendships with Brother and Sister Anderson and Brother Mike and Sister Jewel Newsom. After the Holley family resigned the church in Grenada, Rev. Parker served as interim pastor until Brother Horace Jackson was elected pastor.
After seven years of civilian life, Rev. Parker returned to military service in 1976 by joining the U.S. Army to complete his career. His overseas assignments included Bamberg, Germany (1978–1981) and Vicenza, Italy (1989–1991), as well as a brief deployment to Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. His final twelve years in the Army were spent in Recruiting and Retention. In June 1993, after seventeen years of relocations and twenty years of total military service, Rev. Parker retired from the U.S. Army.
In 1994, the Parkers moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where Rev. Parker attended Jackson College of Ministries. He later earned an associate degree from Hinds Community College. During this time, Becky Parker served for several years as an office assistant for the Mississippi District UPCI. Rev. Parker then pastored a small church in Thaxton, Mississippi, for one year. In 1996, the family moved to Oxford so he could continue his education. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Mississippi in December 1999.
Through an Army internship program, Rev. Parker pursued graduate studies at Murray State University in Kentucky while gaining practical work experience. Following graduation, the family relocated once again to upstate New York, where he served for three years before securing a position back in Mississippi in 2005. Rev. Parker retired from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in 2016.
After returning to Mississippi, the Parker family made First United Pentecostal Church of Raymond their home church. Brother Dennis Davis served as pastor, with James F. Nations as emeritus pastor. Rev. Parker served faithfully as assistant pastor until he was medically retired in 2017. He deeply valued his fellowship within the Mississippi United Pentecostal Church International and looked forward to the promise found in II Timothy 4:7–8, having fought the good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith.
Rev. Kerry L. Parker, age 72, passed away on July 4, 2020, at Hospice Ministries in Ridgeland, Mississippi. His life was marked by faithful service to God, his family, his country, and the church, leaving a lasting legacy of devotion, sacrifice, and faithfulness.