Berline Parker's Obituary
Services for Berline (Berk) Parker, 93, of Lufkin will be held Saturday, February 3, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. in the Greater Shiloh Baptist Church, 1519
Williams St., Lufkin, TX. Burial will follow in the Mt. Moriah Cemetery in
Garrison, TX. Visitation is Friday from 6:00 p.m. till 8:00 p.m. at the
Greater Shiloh Baptist Church.
Berline (Berk) moved to Lufkin at an early age with her parents and siblings. She is a graduate of Dunbar High School, class of 1943.
She is a long-standing member of The Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church and served as secretary for many years for Circle Number Six. In addition, she was a dutiful member of Mission Number One. As a wife and mother of five (Ma Dear to her children), she was quite the stylish, classy dressed lady.
One of Berline’s favorite passions was that of sewing. With three daughters and several nieces, her sitting at her Singer sewing machine was a common sight almost daily. Her seemingly innate skills as a seamstress allowed her to look upon dresses in a store, come home to sketch and cut her own pattern. She would then duplicate as well as customize her designs to fit her exceptional fashionable taste and sense of style. Scissors, stickpins and fabric, thread and needles were the tools of the trade and were often on display in her house.
Alongside her husband and brother –in-law, Mrs. Berline served as the in-house Hostess, as well as Grille chef in the dining business of the well renowned East Texas Cotton Club. She welcomed such guests as B. B. King, Bobby Bland, Little Richard, Jerry Butler, Ike and Tina Turner Review and many other Rock and Roll Hall of Famers to what we considered our house. These pre- legendary figures travelled what was then called the “Chitlin Circuit” by car and buses. Favorite musicians such as B. B. King and Ike and Tina Turner would call ahead of the arrival to perform, and request Mrs. Berline’s cooking of their favorite soul food items (in her residential kitchen)- corn bread, pinto beans, greens and such. She would cook for the entire band. She was indeed a great hostess and cook.
Mrs. Berline is one of the “last leafs on her original family’s branch.”
Preceded in death by parents, Jake (1978) and Lottie Harrison (1973), she is the sixth child, born one of nine children.
She is preceded in death by three brothers - Jaqueline Jacob (1929), Colbert (Cobb) 1940, and John Michael (Mike), 1963.
She is preceded in death by four sisters- Ardessia (Dess) 1940, Massie Lee (Dee) 1941, Maurine (1993), and Marciel (Ciel), 2005.
In addition, she is preceded in death by her husband, Clementee Parker, Sr. (Cleme) 2001; son Clementee Parker, Jr. (Lil Cleme) 2010 and daughter Daryl Yvonne Parker, 2016.
Over nine decades of trials and tribulations, love and heartbreak, she dared to Live! And acknowledged this Blessing to God.
She leaves to celebrate her life, her sister Quintine (Quint) Moore (Lufkin); her nephew raised as her brother, Jacob Ishmael Harrison (JI), (Menlo Park, CA); her daughters- Sheryl L. Robinson and Myrna Taylor- Boyd, and son Gerald Parker all of Lufkin. Numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great grandchildren as well as many nieces, nephews and their offspring complete this celebratory circle.
Friends of both her Church family as well as those in her personal family share today, in this Celebration of the Life of Berline Harrison Parker.
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