Shirley Parker

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Shirley Parker celebrated her 100th birthday Jan. 17, 2023. She peacefully and gracefully rose to her reward of everlasting life, surrounded by love May 21, 2023. She was born in Fair Haven, to loving parents George and Carolyn Albert.

Shirley was a “go-getter” in more ways than one: She loved walking and she loved working. After earning her diploma at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School she went to work She was a happy worker, making her mark assisting in the office of the most prominent medical doctor in the area – Dr. James W. Parker Sr. – and spending many years as a supply systems analyst for the most prominent employer in the area – the U.S. Army at Fort Monmouth.

It was a “match made in heaven” when Shirley married the love of her life, Dr. James W. Parker Jr. Like his father before him, Dr. Parker Jr. became a historic figure in the Red Bank community. With the support of such prominent New Jerseyans as Jon Bon Jovi and Dr. Eugene Cheslock, Shirley and her husband were instrumental in founding Parker Family Health Center, a beacon of hope to Red Bank’s West Side community. With the support of the Red Bank Men’s Club, founded by prominent West Side doctors in 1949, a street – Drs. James Parker Boulevard – was named to memorialize the Parker family in Red Bank. Shirley worked hard as a volunteer and a fundraiser for the Parker Family Health Center.

Shirley spent her final years as a resident of The Chelsea at Shrewsbury, an assisted living facility where she was cared for by live-in health aides under the watchful eye of her good friend Barbara Sheridan. Shirley enjoyed comforting, loving care to the end.

She leaves her brother Harold Albert of Fair Haven to mourn her passing.

The article originally appeared in the June 1 – 7, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.