Patricia Jane Parker

1930 - 2025

Patricia Jane Parker
February 19, 1930 - May 29, 2025
Patricia Jane Ivy Parker was born in Yakima, Washington to Eugene D. Ivy and Elaine Buhrman Ivy on February 19, 1930. She graduated from Yakima High School in 1947, attended MacMurray College in Jackson, Illinois for two years and then graduated from the University of Washington in 1951. It was there she became a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority, an affiliation she reaffirmed in 1957 when she moved to Wenatchee, joined her alumnae sisters in the local club, and which she maintained throughout the rest of her life.
After graduation from the UofW, she and three classmates celebrated by journeying on three-speed bicycles from Seattle to Los Angeles, gaining increasing attention during the eight weeks en route. They arrived in Los Angeles to be feted as celebrities in true Hollywood style by Warner Brothers Studios.
She married James W. Parker, a fellow UofW alum, on September 29th of that year. They spent over seventy-three years together, first living in Manhattan Beach, California and finally in central Washington, where they settled to raise a family.
Pat's lifetime activities included a thirty year career as a teacher in the Wenatchee School District and a supporter of youth, serving as the first president of the Wenatchee swim team support group, unofficial Wenatchee Youth baseball scorekeeper, swim meet statistician and football booster. She, with her husband. Jim, in 1978, were jointly awarded the Wenatchee North Rotary club "President's Trophy for Outstanding Service to Youth." After retirement, she served as Presidential First Lady of Gyro International, a Canadian/American service and fraternal organization. She and Jim were able to travel and enjoy many friends all across both countries, They spent three years living in north central Ohio, while involved with that organization.
Most of Pat's interests centered around her family. She enjoyed backpacking, and especially, spending time at the home she and her family built on the shore of Lake Chelan. She and Jim spent thirteen happy retirement years living there. As a member and volunteer of the Lake Chelan Historical Society, she spent eight years helping chronicle newspapers at the Chelan Museum. Golf became one of her greatest pleasures. She enjoyed many years with her Nine-Hole golfing friends, playing at the Wenatchee Golf and Country Club.
She is survived by her husband, Jim, and her children, Jeffrey, David (Lisa) and Susan, her grandsons Matt (Angie), Scott, and her great-granddaughters, Sloane Elyse and Logan Olivia.
Members of the family will gather to memorialize Pat at their Lake Chelan home. They will be eternally grateful for the loving care furnished by the members of Confluence Health Hospice during Pat's final days.