In Remembrance of Judge Jerry R. Parker
by Tracy Leduc, staff attorney to Judge Jerry R. Parker

On January 11, 2003, Judge Jerry Parker lost his 18-month long battle with cancer. With his death, the State lost a dedicated judge; the courts lost a great legal mind; and those of us who knew him lost a friend. Judge Parker was born in Oilton, Oklahoma, an oil company town that no longer exists. His mother raised him and his two siblings to respect the value of education and to under-stand the value of hard work. Judge Parker worked to put himself through college and law school. Upon his graduation from law school in 1966, he joined the FBI, where he was immediately assigned to handle civil rights issues in Mississippi. In 1973, he came to Clearwater to join the State Attorney’s Office. He was elected to the Pinellas County court bench in 1973. Thereafter, he was appointed to the Sixth Judicial Cir-cuit Court in 1976, and to the Second District Court of Appeal in 1988. At Judge Parker’s memorial ser-vice, Judges John Blue and Chris Altenbernd spoke of their years serv-ing with Judge Parker at the Second District. Tracy Leduc, one of Judge Parker’s staff attorneys, shared her experience of working for him. Sev-eral of Judge Parker’s life-long friends told stories of his law school days, his service in the FBI, and his years as an assistant state attorney. Colonel William Eleazer paid tribute to Judge Parker’s dedicated work with Stetson students in the trial ad-vocacy courses and on the mock trial teams. He also praised Judge Parker for authoring the trial problems used for the past thirteen years at the Na-tional Trial Competition. Most of the attorneys who prac-ticed before Judge Parker saw only the gruff and intimidating exterior that he showed in public. Those who worked with him, however, knew a man who truly cared about his fam-ily, the court, and his staff. In a letter Judge Parker wrote to be read at his memorial service, he told his family and close friends how much they had meant to him. He thanked his staff for their hard work and friend-ship. And he encouraged all in attendance to let their families and friends know every day how much they mean to them. The Second District will miss Judge Parker’s leadership and guidance. All who knew him will miss his sharp legal mind and his keen sense of commitment and duty.