Ralph Ellsworth Parker

World War II veteran and 16-year Minden resident Ralph Ellsworth Parker, 85, died June 23, 2009.

Born March 17, 1924, in Los Angeles to Ruby Ruth and Ralph Albert Parker, he graduated from Claremont High School.

He spent a year at Chaffe Junior College before joining the U.S. Army, where he served with the 877th Bomb Squadron starting February 1943. He served in the Pacific theater as a medical non-commissioned officer. After an honorable discharge from the Army, he attended Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. He met and married Sadie May Brown in 1946. After her death, he met and married Rosemary Maine in 2000.

He retired from Union Ice Co. in 1981, and moved to Minden in 1993. He was an avid Lakers and L.A. Dodgers fan. He was an active member of the Christ Presbyterian Church in Gardnerville.

Mr. Parker is preceded in death in 1999 by his first wife.

He is survived by wife Rosemary; daughter Tedra Parker Cook; son Ralph Dalton Parker; stepsons Daniel A. Maine and Eric L. Maine; three granddaughters; 10 step-grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. The family requests donations be made to the American Lung Association.

For memorial service information, call 782-3781.