Obituary of Ivan Glen Parker

Ivan Glen Parker died unexpectedly in his sleep on the morning of October 6, 2012 in Santa Cruz, CA. He was 93. Ivan was born in Big Springs, Nebraska, the youngest of four, to Diton Jason Parker and Alvena Holtorf Parker on a wheat farm. His oldest brother was Louis, then Arnold, and then a sister, Alma. Ivan attended a one room school from grades 1 to 8. At that time, when a student finished the work for one grade, he was just handed the books for the next, so Ivan started high school at age 12, and graduated just before his 16th birthday in 1935. After graduating from Big Springs High School he worked on the farm. Ivan enjoyed playing with his young nephew and nieces who live on nearby farms. Ivan was also close to his cousins. Then the attack on Pearl Harbor happened in 1941 and the world changed. Ivan was one of the millions of young men who left everything they knew to enlist and serve their county in some far away land. Ivan joined the Navy in 1942, trained in Virginia and New York and eventually was stationed on Treasure Island, in the San Francisco Bay. It was during a shore leave in San Francisco that Ivan met the love of his life, Luella Minnie Herren, at an event sponsored by the Lutheran Church. There was dancing and refreshments for the servicemen and other young people. Lou was sidelined with a sore ankle or they would never have met, since Lou loved to dance and Ivan said he had two left feet. They dated for six weeks before Ivan was shipped out to the South Pacific, where he served in New Guinea as a Chief Mechanic for two years, repairing landing craft. Ivan proposed to Lou in a letter after corresponding with her for two years. She accepted, and six weeks after his return they married in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on October 28, 1945. The young couple moved to Valparaiso, Indiana, where their son Randy was born in 1946. Ivan studied engineering at Valparaiso University. Ivan finished his engineering degree at the University of Washington, Seattle. While the family was in Seattle, A daughter, Nina was born in 1948. Ivan, Lou and their children moved to Santa Cruz, CA in 1952. Ivan worked for the City of Santa Cruz in the Water Department. In 1954, Ivan began constructing a home in Santa Cruz which was finished in 1955. A daughter, Robin, was born in the same year. Ivan lived in the home he built for 56 years. Ivan worked for the Water Department until 1962, when he started his own engineering business. Ivan engineered residential, commercial, institutional projects. Two notable projects include the foundations of the Bay Tree Bookstore, when it was built at UCSC and the walls that supported the roof when the Mission San Juan Bautista was renovated. Ivan's engineering specialty, however, was water, including storm drainage systems, wells, and retaining walls. He was also a capable water "witch," with the ability to estimate the location, speed and volume of water moving underground, using only a thick copper wire. Ivan was a working engineer until he was 80 years old. During the 1989 earthquake in Santa Cruz, not a single one of the buildings he engineered suffered significant damage. Ivan, Lou and their family were long time members of Messiah Lutheran Church. Ivan served as president of the congregation during the time that the church bought property on High and Spring streets and constructed a new church. When Lou became ill in 1998, Ivan was her main caregiver -tirelessly tending to her for three years until her death on October 20, 2002. From the birth of his granddaughter Sophie in 1992, Ivan was a devoted grandpa. He carried her on his shoulders, crawled around on the floor with her, and even changed her diapers. He attended all of her school events, basketball, soccer, volleyball and tennis matches. At age 91 he was in the audience proudly listening to her valedictorian speech as she graduated from high school in 2011. Ivan is survived by his son Randall Parker and his wife Ardeth Parker of Eureka, California, his daughter Nina Parker of Berkeley, CA, and his daughter Robin Larsen, her husband Bruce Larsen of Santa Cruz, CA and their daughter Sophie Larsen. Ivan will be remembered for his kindness, his gentleness, his humor, his intelligence and a genuine sweetness that endeared him to so many. Services will be held on Saturday, November 3rd, 2012 at 2:30pm at Pacific Garden Chapel, 1050 Cayuga Street, Santa Cruz, CA. There will be time to share memories of Ivan at the service.