Shirley Mae Smith Parker

Shirley Mae Smith Parker, who launched the schooling of hundreds of Sonoma County children in three decades as a kindergarten teacher and who in retirement found new ways to teach the young, the old and the unfortunate, died on October 16, 2010 after a stroke. She was 82. The only child of a Swedish immigrant and a self-professed "Okie" who came to California to find their fortunes, she was raised in Vallejo and attended the University of California at Berkeley, graduating with a bachelor's degree in English and a teaching credential. In 1952, she married fellow Vallejoan Keith B. Parker, and the young couple settled in Santa Rosa, where he launched a law practice and both began the community involvement that sustained them through their lives. For Shirley, this included the American Association of University Women, the Symphony League and the First Presbyterian Church, as well as her first teaching job in the Rincon Valley School District. Though she took a dozen years away from teaching to start a family, when her youngest child started school in 1967 she returned to the classroom in Sebastopol, first at Twin Hills School and later at Apple Blossom School until her retirement in 1991. A lifelong advocate of reading and community literacy, she volunteered for years at the Sonoma County Public Library and The Living Room, teaching reading and life skills to Sonoma County homeless women and their children. She rarely missed a meeting of the monthly book group she joined a half-century earlier, the source of many of her most abiding friendships. She was a welcoming face and a longtime lay leader at First Presbyterian Church. She is survived by her brother-in-law Darrell V. Parker; her four children: Robin Holland of San Rafael, CA, Jeffrey Parker of Shanghai, Steven Parker of Aliso Viejo, CA, and Susan Parker of Orangevale, CA; and grandchildren: Louis and Lena Parker, Allegra and Kiara Holland, and Julian Parker. A public memorial service is planned for 10:30 a.m. on Friday, October 29th, at First Presbyterian Church, 1550 Pacific Ave, Santa Rosa. Memorial contributions can be made to Shirley's favorite organizations: The Sonoma County Public Library, The Living Room, Santa Rosa Symphony Association and Santa Rosa Symphony League. For details contact Robin Holland at (415) 505-2357. SANTA ROSA MORTUARY EGGEN & LANCE, 545-3747