State senator Carl Allen Parker died March 20, leaving behind a stellar legacy in the community, especially at Lamar University. He was 89 and died following a long illness.
His devotion to the needs and hardships of everyday folks and his conviction to improve their lives was instilled at an early age, according to his obituary published on the Melancon Levingston Funeral Home website. Parker was born on Aug. 6, 1934 in Port Arthur.
Parker earned a baccalaureate degree in government and economics from the University of Texas and completed his law degree at the UT School of Law. During his final year at UT, he met Beverly Stiegler, a student from San Antonio attending nearby Southwestern University. The pair married in 1960 and had three children.
Following law school and his first legal job as a Judge Advocate General in the United States Navy, Parker returned to Port Arthur and joined the law firm Long and Parker (now the Parker Law Firm). He was admitted to the bar in 1958 and was licensed to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit and the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas. He served for nearly four years as a lawyer in the Naval Reserve, handling more than 500 claims for and against the government, and contested court martials. His practice included criminal defense, family law, business transactions, personal injury, and even representing foreign governments.
Parker entered politics, serving as a Democratic member in the Texas House of Representatives from 1962 to 1977 and in the Texas State Senate from 1977 to 1995. He also served as Speaker Pro Tempore of the House and President Pro Tempore of the State Senate. During his 32-years of public service, Parker sponsored or co-sponsored more than 400 bills that became law.
Included in his legislation was a bill which created the Texas State University System. He established Lamar State College-Port Arthur and Lamar State College-Orange, evaluating Lamar University to its current university status by changing the university’s name from Lamar State College of Technology to Lamar University in 1969.
In 1992, the Carl Parker Building on the Lamar University campus was named in honor of his supportive role while serving in the Texas legislature.
Parker served on several committees in the House and Senate including the powerful Appropriations Committee in both chambers. He was critical in merging environmental agencies to establish the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Committee and introduced legislation to create the Consumer Protection Act, and Texas’ first industrial safety bill.
He served as chairman of the Senate’s Education Committee for a decade, sponsoring the School Finance Reform Bill and the Educational Opportunity Act.
In 1989, Parker made it possible for Orange and Port Arthur campuses to access Higher Education Assistance Funds and in 1991 granted the two campuses degree-granting status while also establishing the Lamar Institute of Technology.
The Lamar University System was incorporated into the Texas State University System in 1995 when Lamar University , Lamar State College-Orange, Lamar State College- Port Arthur and Lamar Institute of Technology became separate entities within the system.
“I believe Lamar University is the greatest asset in Southeast Texas, along with Lamar State College in Port Arthur and Orange ,” Parker said in a 2008 article in The Record. “When you consider the students who would not have been able to go to school if it weren’t for the two-year schools, they all fit together to bring us culture and scholarship and enhance our quality of life in general.”
As well as the Lamar University building, The Texas State University System regents approved the naming of the $5 million Carl A. Parker Multipurpose Center at Lamar State College-Port Arthur in 1992. Other honors include being named Outstanding Senator by Lawmen’s Magazine, Ten Best Legislators by Texas Monthly in 1991 and one of the seven best legislators by the Dallas Morning News in 1994.
FROM THE ARCHIVE
The following is a Jan. 29, 1992 story by UP managing editor, Craig Clark, detailing the naming ceremony for the building at Lamar University.
After extensive refurbishment cleaning and remodeling, the old Engineering II building has a new name. The building is now titled the Carl Parker Building, in honor of the state senator from Port Arthur.
A dedication ceremony, which was attended by regents, the chancellor, the president of the university, faculty, students, local and state politicians and members of the community, took place on Jan. 25.
George McLaughlin, chancellor, began the ceremony by recognizing dignitaries in the crowd and then made several laudatory remarks about Parker’s abilities and accomplishments for the university. He described Parker as a native son who has done “so much for the university.”
While addressing the audience, Texas Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock said, “Carl Parker is the most effective, intellectual and intelligent senator in Texas today, without question.”
“If you want the job done, you can call on Carl Parker,” Bullock said. “He is a person of compassion and of heart who doesn’t look for recognition.”
Bullock concluded his remarks by saying, “God bless you and God bless Carl Parker.”
Carl Parker began a short speech, immediately eliciting laughter from the crowd by saying, “This is kind of like being at your own funeral…that’s the only place that so many people say such nice things about you.”
Parker outlined his commitment to Lamar and education in general by saying, “nothing is more important in a free society than an education.”
He added that while he may have received most of the credit for the recent accomplishments at Lamar, his staff and other members of the Lamar community have been equally responsible for the advances made.
According to J.R. Prestige, Parker’s budget director, the following are specific items and associated revenues which Parker has helped bring to Lamar over the past several years: the Gulf Coast Hazardous Substance Research Center, with $600,000 carried on as a special item funding request for fiscal year 92-93; The Minority Scholarship Institute, which has been awarded $130,000 annually, and the establishment of and procurement of funding for the John Gray Institute. He currently is working for funding for the Nursing Program Enhancement Fund.
Prestige said that while Parker has been instrumental in getting budget items through the legislature, he is “only a part of the team that gets things done for Lamar University."
