Tracie Parker

Tracie Parker, daughter of Chester and Ann Grimmett Parker, began the next chapter of her life on September 4, 2023. She was born March 1, 1955, in the Magic Valley Memorial Hospital in Twin Falls, Idaho. Her father worked for the Idaho Power Company at the power plant at Shoshone Falls when she was born.  The family moved when she was very young to Buhl, Idaho where she lived until she was nine years old.  She loved to play with all the neighbor kids—baseball, cowboys and Indians, roller skating around the block, riding bikes and dressing up for plays that her siblings wrote.

She learned the value of hard work by participating in the family night crawler business where she became an expert catching her quota of 1000 night crawlers, counting money, and working with the other family members.

Her next move was a short one, living in Payette, Idaho for six months.  Then the family moved to Ontario, Oregon where she finished grade school at May Roberts Elementary, Ontario Junior High School and Ontario High School, where she graduated in 1973.  While in high school she played the bass clarinet and was in the marching band.  She also participated in the girl’s summer softball rec league where she excelled as a catcher.  After high school, she attended BYU where she continued her love for sports by participating in their intermural sports programs.

Tracie served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Columbus, Ohio mission from January 1977 to July 1978 and then returned to finish her degree at BYU.  Tracie graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Recreation Management, a field of study that she loved.

After graduation she worked for the Boy Scouts of America in Santa Rosa, California where her love for the ocean and lighthouses began.  She decorated her home with seashells and ocean decor that reminded her of the sea. She also loved the Savior and had beautiful pictures of him on the walls of her home.

Tracie continued her career by landing a job with the Federal Government Food and Nutrition program where she audited school lunch programs.  She started working in Salt Lake City and was assigned to work with the Native American Reservations to improve their nutrition programs.  She then transferred to Aurora, Colorado, where she worked for many years until her retirement in October 2015 after twenty-eight plus years.

Tracie met her best friend, Patricia “Patty” Ann Robinson, while they were roommates at BYU.  After college, since neither of them got married, they agreed to continue their friendship by pooling their resources and buying a house, which happened when Tracie was transferred to Aurora, Colorado. Patty already lived there and was a flight attendant for United Airlines.  Theirs was a lasting friendship and we are confident they are rejoicing together in Heaven.

In spite of the joys and successes she had while here on the earth, Tracie suffered with many health issues throughout her life which ultimately were the cause of her death at the early age of 68.

She is survived by her siblings and their spouses, Bradley Parker (Ann) of Boise, Idaho; Jan White (Dan) of West Valley City, Utah; Annette DeRoest (John) of Salt Lake City, Utah; Kenneth Parker (Tara) of Logan, Utah; and Roger Parker (Heather Horton) of Hailey, Idaho; and her fur babies, Nala, Gus and Trapper.

Preceded in death by her beloved fur babies, Holly, Cody, Neko and Kobe;  her parents, Ann Grimmett Parker and Chester Parker; and her very best friend, Patricia (Patty) Ann Robinson.

We appreciate the loving people at Chancelor Gardens and Symbii Home Health & Hospice in Clearfield, Utah for their care of Tracie during the last few months of her life.

A graveside service will be held on Friday, September 8, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. at the Paris, Idaho Cemetery.