Robert Franklin Parker

Dr. Robert Franklin Parker, 83, was found expired in his home in Clinton, Oklahoma, on June 11, 2024, after a welfare check by the Clinton Police Department.

Parker was born on February 21, 1941, and was the son of the late Leila Rose Parker and John Carl Parker of Clinton. He attended Clinton Public Schools, graduating from Clinton High School in 1959. He attended Southwestern (Oklahoma) State College at Weatherford and graduated in 1963 with a B. A. in Education. While in high school and college, Parker preached in several Custer County churches and attended the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas in 1963.

He then taught social studies in the Harrah Public Schools for one year and taught several years at Alamogordo, New Mexico. He attended the University of Kansas and received a Master’s in Education degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in 1971. He received a Ph. D. in Adult Education in 1974 from the University of Oklahoma. He had a lengthy career as an administrator for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education in Oklahoma City where he specialized in adult continuing education and talk-back television.

He was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, W. H. and Lula Parker of Clinton; his maternal grandparents Frank J. Sands and Frances E. Sands Askins; and an uncle, Eugene Clyde Parker and his wife, Quida.

Bob is survived by Dr. Ed Rolison of Weatherford, his childhood friend from the first- grade; Mrs. Carol Balzer, his long-time next-door neighbor; and members of the Clinton High School Class of 1959.

Bob will be interred in the Parker family plot in a 10:00 a. m., grave-side ceremony at the Clinton Cemetery on June 27, 2024, under direction of Kiesau-Lee Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to the Southwestern Oklahoma State University Foundation.