Services for Simon Parker were at 2:00 p.m. July 22 in the First United Methodist Church of Hugo. Officiating was Rev. Roger Wood.
Mr. Parker was born May 30, 1914, in Marietta the son of Bert and Nell Gordon Parker, and died July 19, 1991, in a Paris, Texas, hospital at the age of 77.
Mr. Parker graduated from Marietta High School and received his Bachelors degree from SOSU in 1937. He completed his Masters degree at Oklahoma State University in 1941 and did additional graduate work at Oklahoma University. In 1937 he moved to Hugo and assumed the duties of assistant Junior High School Principal. The following year he became High School math teacher and football coach.
During World War II, Mr. Parker enlisted in the Navy from 1942-1946 after which he rejoined the Hugo school system. He was named High School Principal in 1953, a post he held for 18 years before being named Superintendent of Schools following the death of Ira Armstrong. In January 1980, Mr. Parker announced his retirement, drawing the curtain on his 42 year career on June 30, 1980. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Hall of Fame on July 28, 1980.
Mr. Parker married the former Otie Eddleman at the Eddleman home in Hugo on October 26, 1940. For many years he was active in the Hugo Rotary Club and served as club president and also as a member of the Hugo Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Mr. Parker was very active in the First Methodist Church where he had served as Chairman of the church’s governing board and as a member of the Builders Class. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge and may teaching organizations.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Otie Parker of the home; a son, Simon Parker, Jr. of Hugo; a daughter, Martha Childs of Houston, Texas; a brother, V.G. Parker of Hugo; and four grandchildren.
Burial was in Mt. Olivet Cemetery under the direction of Lampton-Mills and Coffey Funeral Home.
