Olympia Planning Commissioner, volunteer Jerry Parker dies on trip

Olympia Planning Commission member and longtime community volunteer Jerry Parker died Thursday while on a bicycling trip in Montana. He was 74.

Parker’s stepdaughter, Alyssa Firmin, told The Olympian that his heart stopped suddenly while in the middle of a ride in Badger Pass.

Parker was a native of Portland, who spent most of his adult life in Olympia. He was a retired environmental planner who had worked for the Department of Ecology. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College in California as well as a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Wisconsin.

Kris Goddard, who worked with Parker on the city’s downtown strategy, said Parker was a brilliant and tireless advocate for urban planning, especially in the city’s downtown core. She said Parker had great relationships with the community and truly invested himself in Olympia.

“He had strong opinions and was curious about everything under the sun,” Goddard said. “He was a mentor, a real mentor.”

Parker’s penchant for civic responsibility was shaped by the two years he spent in Colombia with the Peace Corps in the 1960s.

“The Peace Corps certainly made him an advocate for what he saw as the right things to do,” said his oldest brother, Jim Parker, noting that Jerry was a curious soul who always pursued questions wherever they led. “He was a person with a very tender heart, but a very ferocious intellect.”

He is survived by his longtime companion Mary Ann Firmin, daughter Kristin Herbert, stepchildren Alyssa Firmin and Andrew Firmin, and two grandchildren. Parker was the second of seven children and is survived by Jim Parker, John Parker, Mary Bramucci, Martha Mattson, Melinda Sweeney and Joe Parker.

A memorial or remembrance will be announced.

This story was originally published August 19, 2016 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Olympia Planning Commissioner, volunteer Jerry Parker dies on trip."