Ralph Parker

PARKER Dr. Ralph Layton Parker passed away Wednesday, March 16, 2011 in Boca Raton, Fla. at the age of 98. Born in New York City in 1912, he was the son of Andy and Esther Racher Parker, and a life long resident of Bridgeport and Fairfield. He began his education at Roger Ludlowe High School where he graduated in 1931. He made his way, through the Great Depression, to the University of Michigan and completed his studies at the University of Western Ontario Medical School, in London Ontario in 1941. He returned to the States for his medical training in Connecticut and New York, with intervals spent at Yale-New Haven Hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital, Bellevue Hospital and The Skin and Cancer Center at New York University where he was an instructor in dermal pathology. In 1949, he was inducted into the Academy of Dermatology and opened his practice on Lafayette Street in Bridgeport. In 1951, he became Chief of Dermatology at St. Vincent's Medical Center. His role as physician was so integral to his life that he only relinquished his license at the age of 94. Ralph Parker was a man of wide ranging interests which he pursued with persistence and passion, always striving for the next level. His artistic bent led him to watercolor painting and then to intricate bird carving, ducks and shore birds for which he won many prizes. As an athlete, he was a member of the track team at the University of Michigan and later found his true sports home in golf. He was one of the original 100 members of Birchwood Country Club and when he died, he was the oldest. He was predeceased by his wife, Dorothe, whom he met when they were teenagers. The romance held them together through long years of separation while he was away at school and they married in 1939. He was the oldest of four siblings, Robert Parker, Arnold Parker, Elsie Jacobs, and Manning Parker, all of whom he out lived. He lives in loving memory of his children, Jane Resnick and husband, Richard of Trumbull, Betsy Kutner and husband, Mark, of Fairfield, and Dean Parker and wife, Cathie of Sterling, Va. He will be remembered with love by his grandchildren, Allison Resnick and her husband, Todd Applegate of Madison, Jennifer Crisp and husband, Mike of Fairfield, Andy Kutner and his wife, Lori of Raleigh, N.C.; and great-grandchildren, Walker, Langley and Toliver Crisp; Bret and Graham Kutner, and Samuel and Sadie Applegate. Funeral services will be held on Sunday, March 20th at 1 p.m. from The Abraham L. Green and Son Funeral Home, 88 Beach Road in Fairfield. In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to Japanese earthquake victims at Save the Children, 54 Wilton Road, Westport, CT 06880, or savethechildren.org, Ways to Give.