John Parker quietly passed from this life on Sunday, May 31, 2009, at the Missouri Veteran’s Home in St. James. 
He was devoted to his wife, Sarah Elizabeth, and children, Norma, John and Matthew. He will be honored and remembered for a life well lived. 
A member of the greatest generation, he lived through the depression, where his father and mother lost their New Mexico cattle ranch.  He remained devoted to his mother, who he cared for and looked after all his life. 
At 18 years of age he volunteered for military duty during World War II.  Selected for the elite paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division, he was seriously injured on a practice jump in high winds, and endured the consequences of that injury the rest of his life. 
Mustered out in 1947, he returned to New Mexico and worked for the county highway department. 
Leaving New Mexico, he left for California to seek employment and while in San Francisco, met Sarah Elizabeth Frantz.
After a brief courtship, they married in 1956.  Together, they lived and worked in San Francisco, until 1967, when along with their three children, they moved to a cattle farm in Ava, Mo.
He devoted the remainder of his working life to the breeding of registered polled Herefords and will always be remembered by friends and neighbors as an outstanding cattleman and responsible steward of the land.  
He and Sarah sold their farm in 1997 and moved to Rolla, Mo., to be near family in their retirement years. 
Following a serious injury in September of 2008, he became a resident of the St. James Veteran’s home. 
John will always be remembered as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, friend and a man of the highest character. 
In April 2006 his wife and best friend Sarah, preceded him in death.  He was always a gentleman and his lively sense of humor, great love for family and friends, and unbounded enthusiasm for life will be missed by all.