Garland E. Parker

1969 - 2023

News story
By Mark Zaborney
Blade Staff Writer

Garland E. Parker, dean of students at Waite High School, who was an electrician when he became a Toledo Public Schools teacher in his trade, died Aug. 10 in ProMedica Toledo Hospital. He was 53.

He learned in October, 2022, that he had metastatic cancer, his wife, Charvette Parker, said.

Mr. Parker had been at Waite since August, 2017, and was dean of students at Rogers High School the previous four years. He made sure he got to know students in the hallways and in the lunchroom. He approached discipline as he had when he taught electrical construction at Start High School from 2006-11 and at Toledo Technology Academy from 2011-13.

"He was calm, direct," Mrs. Parker said.

When he was dean, "if a child was sent down by the teacher, he'd have a talk with them and find out why they were cutting up and make a decision about what action was to be taken," she said. "He would tell them, 'The road you're heading on is not a good road.'"

"He was more of a mentor. He would tell them, 'Get your act together. I don't want to see you any more,'" she said.

As a teacher at Start, Mr. Parker made an impression on then-freshman Jonathon McCrum.

"He always stood out. He made sure everybody in the school knew who he was," said Mr. McCrum, 29.

And he let students know - even those not in his class - he could provide a safe place, that they could come to him if they had a need, even for a shirt or pair of pants.

"His motivation was students. He wanted kids in TPS schools to start getting better grades," Mr. McCrum said. "Seeing how he motivated students, corrected students, disciplined them, opened my eyes. If he's willing to do that for anybody, I'm willing to learn from him."

He became an electrical student of Mr. Parker's from his sophomore through senior year.

In the classroom, Mr. Parker was strict and in charge.

"But he always gave back," Mr. McCrum said.

Before Thanksgiving and Christmas break, he had a classroom feast open to the school. He provided turkeys or hams and students the sides.

To emphasize what pursuing a trade could mean to student's futures, he repeated catchy sayings - "'Having a JOB means 'just over broke.' He taught a career," Mr. McCrum said. "Every time he opened his mouth, it stuck to you."

Mr. McCrum, now a union electrician, entered the trade "right out of high school because of him. I have a high-paying career because of him."

Garland Edward Parker was born Sept. 6, 1969, to Merle Bernice Parker, Jr., and Garland Woodson. He grew up in the Old West End under the care of his maternal grandparents, Merle Bernice Parker and Edward M. Parker and aunts and uncles he regarded as sisters and brothers.

Inspired by the example of his uncle Edward M. Parker, Jr., he became an electrician. He received his journeyman's card through Local 640, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, in Phoenix and later became a member of Local 8 in the Toledo area. During his career, he worked on commercial and residential projects. He also taught adults in the trade at his family's Edward M. Parker Technical Academy.

He worked for a time in the mailroom of The Blade, Mrs. Parker said.

He received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 2011 from the University of Toledo.

"It's something he always wanted to pursue," Mrs. Parker said.

He formerly coached a girls basketball team he founded, and at Rogers, he was an assistant varsity basketball coach and an assistant football coach.

"He loved to be a mentor. He wanted to help everyone, whether it was a kid or an adult," Mrs. Parker said. "He was a laidback kind of guy, always calm."

He taught his son, Garland, Jr., to fish at Walbridge Park in Toledo, Olander Park in Sylvania, and Maumee Bay State Park. He and his uncle, Karl Parker, teamed up to beat all comers in spirited games of bid whist.

He was a Mason and a deacon at Southern Missionary Baptist Church.

Surviving are his wife, the former Charvette Spencer, whom he married June 9, 2007; daughters Tierra Parker, Tionna Parker, Tai-Anne Parker, and TaNia Parker; sons Garland Parker, Jr., and Khamarri Hill; brothers Tony Stuart, Adrian Johnson, and Garland Woodson; sisters Sunzarae Johnson and Khristian Johnson, and nine grandsons.

Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Friday at House of Day Funeral Service. A family hour will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Southern Missionary Baptist Church, where services will begin at 11 a.m.