Mrs. Opal Jean Parker, age 92 and the beloved wife of Mr. Willard G. Parker, left for Heaven on Saturday afternoon, March 10, 2007 from Muskogee.

Opal Jean Moore was born June 10, 1914 in Minneola, Texas to Lee and Cherry Ann Henry Moore. She was one of eight children.

After a devastating cyclone hit this small Texas town, taking the lives of most of her family, Opal, one sister and one brother, who were the only survivors of the family, lived with an uncle for a time on his farm in Texas. Conditions were so difficult that she chose to leave. And with the help of a minister friend of the family, she went to a Baptist School in Little Rock, Arkansas. However, after a year, she was forced to move back to Texas.

In 1929, Opal gladly accepted an offer from a cousin to come and live with him and his wife in Enid, Oklahoma. Opal was a determined young girl. She attended school in Enid and did domestic work in large homes and worked at the Country Club where she acquired the desire and skill for excellent food preparation. Upon graduation from Enid High School in 1933, she was able to send herself to college at Langston University.

Opal graduated from Langston in 1938 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics. Also, she had met the love of her life, Willard G. Parker and not only received a B.S. in Home Economics that year, she also received a M.R.S. - Mrs. Willard Parker degree as well. This marriage was blessed with two beautiful daughters, Beverly and Gloria.

Opal had an outstanding teaching career that included Elementary Education and Secondary Education with strong emphases on nutrition, dressmaking and decorating. She loved sewing. Her creativit, skill and the love she invested was reflected in every stitch. Her interior decorating talent was obvious to everyone who walked into their home. She especially enjoyed the outdoors and growing beautiful flowers - her flower gardens were a neighborhood attraction. She had a special touch that would cause anything green to florish. She also loved music and was a self-taught organ player.

As a wife and mother, Opal was devoted to caring for her husband and children. But she truly enjoyed helping others. She took a special interest in young families who many times were struggling. Often, the telephone would ring and parents would be calling looking for their children and found them eating hamburgers with Opal. The neighborhood children really enjoyed her hamburgers, her strawberry shortcake, her blackberry cobbler, her dudlo-joes, etc., etc...

Opal was a member of First Missionary Baptist Church and was a strong force behind the many activities of the Church's mission. A quiet force. In addition, she was an active member in the Muskogee Teachers Association, the Oklahoma Teachers Association and the National Retired Teachers association. She recieved the certificate of recognition for the successful completion of the unique Christian Finance Workshop from the Johnson Memorial Bible Institute of Oklahoma City, among other citations.

And in 2005, the Retired Educators for Youth Agricultural Program [REAP] and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture awarded Opal the 11th Annual "Blacks in Agriculture" Agriculture Heritage Award for outstanding service and dedication to agriculture in Oklahoma.

Opal's parents, two sisters and five brothers preceded her in death. She leaves to cherish her special memories; her loving and devoted husband of 68 years, Willard Parker, of thehome; her daughters, Beverly Young, of San Diego, California and Gloria Parker, of Los Angeles, California; her granddaughter, Kimberly Ragsdale, of Porter, Oklahoma; along with a host of loving relatives, extended famiy and friends.

The Sacred farewell will be held on Saturday morning, March 17, 2007 at 10:00 A.M. in the First Missionary Baptist Church, 5th & Denison streets in Muskogee. The Pastor, Rev. Michael McDaniel will Preside. The Christian committal will follow in the Booker T. Washington Cemetery in Muskogee.

You may visit Mrs. Parker, as she slumbers at the funeral home in Muskogee on Friday from 10 AM to 7 PM.