William Lee "Bill" Parker

Pastor William Lee “Bill” Parker, 85, of Mt. Hope, passed away Thursday, July 9, 2020. Born December 8, 1934 at Wolf Summit, WV, he was the son of the late Robert Ancel and Rea Veryl Williams Parker.
Bill graduated from Victory High School in 1953 and Salem College in December of 1976 with a B.A. in Philosophy/Religion. He was the pastor of 4 churches. The first two were started as bi-vocational ministries: Hepzibah Baptist in Taylor County, WV and Enon Baptist near Salem, WV. He led Enon into a full-time ministry and oversaw a new building project. The third was Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Harrison County, WV. The last was Calloway Heights Baptist Church in Beckley, WV, where he served 26 years, tripling the size of the congregation over the course of his ministry. Bill also served as an interim pastor after retirement. He was at Fellowship Memorial Baptist in Oak Hill, WV for more than 3 years and also served at Mt. Hope Baptist for a time.

Bill’s areas of service and ministry beyond the pastorate included: Ministers Advisory Council of Alderson Broaddus College, President of WV Baptist Historical Society, WV Baptist Executive Board, Area VP for WV Baptist Ministers Council, Moderator of Raleigh Baptist Association, Committee on Ministerial standing W.V.B, Chaplain at Raleigh General Hospital for 37 years, Chaplain at BARH for 20 years, Director of Chaplains at Raleigh General Hospital, ethics Committee at Raleigh General Hospital and Institutional Review Board at Raleigh.
He was awarded Who’s Who in Religion in America 1976, 1977, Personalities of the South 1977, Vol. 4 Men of Achievement, Cambridge Eng., Personalities of America First Award.
Prior to his marriage in 1960, Bill served 23 months with the U.S. Army Signal Corp. He returned home to work in a variety of sales positions, including several years as a representative of the American Greetings Company.
He is survived by his wife, Marjorie Ann Williamson Parker; children: Denise A. (Parker) Fisher [Douglas “Dusty”] of Burley, ID, Darren Parker of Beckley, WV, Duane Parker [Michelle] of Laurel, MS, Diane (Parker) Southern [Michael] of Shinnston, WV; grandchildren: Courtney Stoots of Mt. Hope, WV, Timothy Parker [Lee] of Beckley, WV, Tabitha (Parker) Stebel [Matt] of Crab Orchard, WV, Larissa (Fisher) Dring [Jesse] of Burley, ID, Destin Parker [Leigh] and Danielle Parker of Laurel, MS; plus 6 great-grandchildren (and one on the way) and 2 step great-grandchildren.
Services will be 11 am Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at Calloway Heights Baptist Church with his son, Pastor Duane Parker and Pastor Bill Horton officiating. Burial will be in the WV National Cemetery at Grafton. Friends may visit with the family from 6-8 pm Tuesday, July 14, at the church and one hour prior to the service on Wednesday.
In lieu of flowers please consider donations to Hospice of Southern West Virginia, PO Box 1472, Beckley, WV 25802-1472.