Hugh Linwood Parker, Sr.

POLKON – Mr. Hugh Linwood Parker, Sr., 81, beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, uncle, friend, but most of all a child of God, while surrounded by his family, particularly his high school sweetheart, Mary Lib, his wife of 61 years, passed from this world to his heavenly home, on Friday, February 21, 2025.  

Funeral services will be 2:00 PM, Saturday, March 1, 2025, at Cedar Grove Baptist Church with Rev. Mark Swaringen and Rev. Barry Byrd officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. 

The family will greet friends at the church on Saturday from 12:30 PM until 1:30 PM and other times at the home. 

Hugh was born in the home place in the Burnsville community of Polkton, N.C., November 18, 1943, to Richmond Millard Parker, Sr., and Lula Mae Curran Parker. He loved that he lived in the home he was born in and being in the country tending his cows. 

As a toddler, Hugh moved with his family to Florence, S.C., where he spent his formative years before moving back to N.C. to live the life that would come to impact so many people. Because Hugh lived to please God and to love others, so many family members, friends, and acquaintances have many sweet memories. One of the first memories shared about Hugh’s younger years comes as Hugh, five or six, watching a cowboy show on television, got rather excited and shot out the TV with his B.B. gun. 

It was years later when 17-year-old Hugh and his Florence, S.C., crowd of friends and their water guns descended upon Sparrow Skating Rink in Scranton, that he set eyes on the woman who would become his lifelong skating partner. When Hugh graduated from high school, he moved back to the home place in North Carolina with his parents but traveled the roads on weekends to visit with his pals and his sweetheart. Finally, in 1963, the couple married and a year later they both were born again, coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.. This moment shaped their marriage, the family they would have, and the extended family they made through church, community, and business. 

Ever wanting to show kindness and to have compassion, and always finding joy in the moments, and playing a good-hearted prank, Hugh looked forward to opportunities to help others. 

He enjoyed playing ball as a young boy, either in neighborhood pick-up games, or church softball leagues. As a young man on through middle age, he kept his Elvis sideburns. Hugh loved fishing and found great joy sharing a fishing pole with his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren 

In his later years, Hugh continued to work as an accountant, serve in his church as a deacon and Sunday School class teacher and wherever else he was needed. As the world moved on, he continued to love Gospel music and the music of the ‘50s, and the cowboy movies of yesteryear.  

 With a long history in accounting and managing finances, it is no wonder he loved a good bargain. With a passion for others, he enjoyed times he could share with others, whether it was the Gospel story, or a meal, because he loved Jesus and he loved to eat. He strived to always do right. His family believes he felt that if he did right by God, then he was doing right by his fellow man. 

What Hugh loved most was the Lord and his Bible as the Word of God. It was his love for God that allowed him to love his wife, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, as well as his extended family. This love extended to the church family, and people from all walks of life he encountered.

Hugh is survived by his wife, Mary Elizabeth (Lib) Parker; his son, Hugh Linwood (Woody) Parker, Jr. (Amy McAdam Parker); his daughter, Amy Dawn Parker Durham (Mike); his grandchildren Brandon (Lisa), Joshua (Shana), Megan (Dusty), Ryan, Claire, Ethan, and Sawyer; and his nine great grandchildren, Caden, Mason, Harleigh, Katelynn, Jackson, Madelyn, Makenzie, Maisey, and Owen. He is also survived by his sister, Betty Clark as well as numerous nieces and nephews. 

In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by his brothers Richmond Millard Parker, Jr., William Ashley Parker, James Doyle Parker, and Lewis Bennett Parker. 

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in memory of Hugh to the church’s cemetery fund, Cedar Grove Baptist Church, Care of: Alice Cox, 12509 Highway 742 N, Polkton, N.C., 28135, or to Hope Pregnancy Center, P.O. Box 9, Wadesboro, N.C. 28170. 

The arrangements are in care of Leavitt Funeral Home and online condolences may be made at www.leavittfh.com