THOMASVILLE —

John Charles Kimball Parker, age 80, died Friday, January 18, 2013 at Emory Hospital from complications following cancer treatment.  He was born in Claremont, N.H. on Nov.  4, 1932 to the late Katherine Ryan Parker and Clarence Perkins Parker.  After graduating from Stevens High School in 1951, he attended Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, graduating in 1955 with a bachelor's degree in engineering. He served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a captain. After his military service, he moved to Baltimore, Md. and worked for Bethlehem Steel. He married Diane Marguerite Williams in Sept. 10, 1960.  He then moved to Atlanta where he started his own railcar business. He was an active member of the Cathedral of St. Philip, and he was involved in economic development, serving on several trade missions to Latin America and the Caribbean. He was also an avid skier and artist. Although he lived in the South, he was always a New Englander at heart. Since retirement, he has spent most of his time with friends and family, to whom he was deeply devoted. He is survived by his children, Tom and Hayley Parker, Suwannee; Stephen and Kathy Parker, Aiken, S.C.; and Alston and Philip Watt, Thomasville; his grandchildren, Katherine Page Parker, Thomas Williams Parker Jr., Justin Harris Parker, Christopher Cargill Watt, Parker Vance Watt, Katlyn Ann Parker, Elijah Charles Kimball Parker; and his siblings, Marilyn Parker Rice, Claremont, N.H. and Robert Tufts Parker, York, Maine. He was preceded in death by his brother, Clarence Perkins Parker Jr. Private family memorial services will be held in Thomasville and Claremont, N.H. In lieu of flowers, memorials in John's memory can be made to the Stevens High School Alumni Association (Scholarship Fund), 24 Opera House Square, Box 29, Claremont, N.H., 03743 or a charity of your choice. Friends and family are invited to sign the online guest register at www.allenfh.com. — Allen & Allen Funeral Home