Avalyn Virginia Parker

Avalyn Virginia Parker, 81, died Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, at Seton Hospital in Austin, Texas, after an illness. Daughter of Theodore and Daisel Moseley, she was born Sept. 15, 1931, in her parents' country home near Bald Knob. She grew up in the Bald Knob area, graduated from Bald Knob High School and earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. She was part of a pioneering family of the Bald Knob area. She married Patrick L. Parker Aug. 25, 1956, in Fayetteville. They remained married for nearly 55 years, until his death in 2011. Parker lived most of her life in Bald Knob, in Port Aransas, Texas and in the Austin area. She spent most of her life as a homemaker, raising three sons. She also worked short stints as a clerk at FBI offices in the Washington, D.C., area and as a clerk for Coastal Science Labs, which was founded in Port Aransas and moved to Austin. The firm was co-owned by her husband. She was a past member the Port Aransas Garden Club and H.G. Olsen Elementary School Mothers' Club – an early version of the Parent-Teacher Organization. She did volunteer work for the non-profit Common Cause organization. She also was a contributor to a number of environmental causes. She is survived by a sister, Judith Moseley of Bald Knob; three sons, Dan (Michelle) Parker of Port Aransas; Ron Parker of Manchaca; and Kevin Parker of Austin; and a grandson, Zach Parker of Port Aransas. Arkansas services will be private.