WILLIAM MILLER

MILLER--William. "Bill" Parker, passed on January 29, 2023 at the age of 76. Born in Brooklyn, NY, he grew up in Roslyn Heights on Long Island. In 1967, he moved to San Francisco for the vibrant cultural movement, working on public projects in Golden Gate Park by day and playing bass in a rock band by night. In California, he met the mother of his children Wendy Gilmartin. In 1969, with Wendy pregnant, they made a cross-country trek by van, marrying in New York, and settling in Greenville, ME (Moosehead Lake) to start a family. They divorced in 1978 but continued to coparent their children. A champion of organized labor, "Billy Pilgrim" (his union nickname) worked for years as a Boilermaker, Local 29 AFL-CIO in Quincy, MA. A huge Bob Dylan fan, Bill loved music, especially the blues and jazz, and worked as a music promoter briefly. Bill was the family's chief genealogist. He fondly shared stories of his mother Frances Fuller's rich American story: the family's arrival on the Mayflower, military service (Revolutionary War & Civil War [Union Army]), inadvertent introduction of the water hyacinth to Florida, captaining steamboats, founding an ale company, and starring on vaudeville. Bill revered his brother Chris, who tore a ribald page from that vaudeville playbill, penning the screenplay for Animal House. He is survived by his son Jesse and his wife Katya, his daughter Zoe and her husband Craig, and his grandchildren: Nick, Vivian, Isaac and Asa, who were the light of his life. Donations in Bill's memory may be made to Southern Poverty Law Center: www.splcenter.org