Eulogy for James Parker

[Editor's note: this eulogy was written by and read at Jim Parker's funeral by his daughter, Connie Parker Harrison. Jim died January 20, 2000; he was able to see that the dire predictions for Y2K were all a bunch of hooey, something that tickled him quite a bit.]

It was about two months ago that my father stood where I am now and gave a eulogy for his mother. I never thought I would be doing something similar so soon.  

As we drove out to Flatwoods Cemetery behind Berthie's hearse, my father said he thought funerals should reflect who the person was and sometimes ministers can't really convey all of that, perhaps out of ignorance or maybe out of discretion. 

As I planned this eulogy, I thought about some stories that I could tell, about times my dad was profound and others when he was funny and those incidents when he was infuriating. I thought about retelling some of the stories that have been told to me about my dad and the ways that he affected other people. But finally, I decided the best way to honor my father's memory would be to use his own words.  

About 10 years ago, my father had open heart surgery and his life, which had seemed to stretch so far into the future, became finite. My dad had talked for years about wanting to move from Michigan back to Tennessee, and I think it was at the time of his surgery that his need to move back home became more urgent.    

I'm glad that he had so many years here to spend with his family, to make new friends, and to enjoy time with his old friends.  I'm grateful that he travelled, lived in a home he loved, and had enough opinions to fill two newspaper columns and then some.  But most of all, I'm glad that he was loved and appreciated by the people who meant as much to him. I found a poem my father wrote in June, 1998 that I think sums up how happy he was to be home.

(The poem, "Tennessee" was read. Click on this link to read the post.)

Jim at the Joe (Joe Louis Arena, Detroit), he may have
moved home but he never left the Red Wings