Jack Parker

Jack Parker, 65, of Oklahoma City, died June 2, 2017. He was born in Dumas, Texas to Jack and Ruth (Schertler) Parker. He grew up in the panhandle of Texas and moved to Mountain View, Ok in 1959. He grew up outside of town on a small farm with cows, chickens, and his dear dog, Buttons. In school he was an avid baseball and football player, member of FFA, homecoming king, fisherman, and senior bus driver. He met his wife, Tricia Naifeh, in Stillwater in 1974, and announced to his friends and family the very night they met that he was going to marry her. They were married in 1975, and would have celebrated 42 years of marriage this November. Always one for a new adventure, he opened The Leather Shoppe with his wife Tricia and his sister, Sandie Wein. They sold handcrafted leather goods, including one-of-a-kind coin belts, even making belts for Liberace and John Denver. He designed and marketed limited edition belt buckles which featured Oklahoma history, and was the first President of the Oklahoma Buckle Club. Jack always said leather was a tough bag that kept him strapped down, and in 1989, the Leather Shoppe closed after Jack was diagnosed, treated, and survived cancer. It was then that Jack drew from his upbringing on a farm and love of Oklahoma, and developed the character of Captain Jack Parker, Oklahoma humorist. He traveled the state and region for nearly 30 years as Captain Jack, entertaining thousands and thousands of people over that time. He entertained groups, conventions, and parties and talked to them about small-town etiquette, pool hall protocol, garage sale manners, country road waving, and some simple lessons in farm talk translation. He will always be remembered for his signature curled handlebar mustache, which he meticulously groomed, long before it was hip. He was a true Jack of all trades, and also enjoyed playing the guitar, drawing, metal detecting, and collecting artifacts from Oklahoma history. He was a creator, and made many things, including a life-sized Advent wreath, a Newton's cradle out of bowling balls, a solar heated outdoor shower, and countless dioramas. But his most beloved creation was a 10-foot tall papier-mâché dinosaur that graced his and Tricia's front yard for more than 20 years. He truly loved being outdoors, and one of the highlights of every year was bank pole fishing on the Washita River with his cousin and best friend, Phil Clayton. He felt most at home on the Washita River and on the farmland he grew up on in Mountain View, and in 2004, he began raising buffalo there for nothing more than what he called the "western romantic ideal." Jack was passionate about education and was actively involved in his children's schools and activities. Like most things he did, his methods were unconventional. He dropped bowling balls off the school roof, built a lunar cycle model, brought in a semi-truck to school, built a weather station at Villa Teresa, collected machines for the kids to take apart, supervised science fair projects, built a six foot tall globe, and coached baseball. He made every moment a teaching moment, and would even make up his own field trips, taking his kids to the water treatment plant, the city dump, a mattress factory, caves to spelunk, the newspaper printing plant, and so many other places. He never stopped teaching. Jack Parker was cool before being cool was cool. He grew food in his own garden, raised chickens for the eggs, recycled because it seemed like the right thing to do, wore leather sandals, decorated his house in over the top Christmas decorations, night skied before it was a thing, had a retro '66 Ford truck, made big political signs for everyone to see, camped off the grid, grew a handlebar mustache, and created just to create. Jack was a caring neighbor, a true-blue friend, a loving father, and a devoted husband. He was a dreamer. He was one of a kind. He will be missed. Jack leaves behind his wife, Tricia, daughter Andria Medina and her husband Joey and their daughter Sydney, son Zack and his wife Eileen and their daughter Eleanor, his sisters Sandie Wein and Jeanette Head, and his many cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was preceded in death by his son Austin Jack, his parents Jack and Ruth Parker, and his brother Gary Clayton. Viewing of the body is from 10am – 7pm and the wake service is at 7pm, both on Monday June 5th at Smith and Kernke Funeral Home at 1401 NW 23rd in Oklahoma City. The funeral mass of Christian burial is at 2pm on Tuesday June 6th at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church at 1901 NW 18th Street in Oklahoma City.