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Joyce W. Parker
Joyce W. Parker (née Wikander) of Sag Harbor and Syracuse died on August 9 at Crouse Hospital in Syracuse with her family by her side. Although she had a long illness, the cause of death was unrelated and sudden. She was 68.
She was born in Southampton Hospital on May 9, 1947. Her parents were Samuel Wikander and Winifred Yardley. Her grandfather, Fred Yardley, founded the Yardley Funeral Home. Her father, mother and uncle Ken Yardley founded and ran Yardley Florist in Sag Harbor for many years.
She grew up in a community where at the time relatives owned and lived in all of the houses. Her house was right next to her grandmother’s house. She spent time with her uncles and cousins. Her great uncle Charlie Shaw lived across the road and he had horses. She loved the horses, especially her horse Cochise, which she rode in the field next to his house (part of Havens Beach), on the beach and at times even around the village. Anyone who remembers a girl riding a horse around Sag Harbor in the late 1950s to early 1960s, that was her. In addition to the horses, she had several dogs, her favorite was a Cheesapeake Bay retriever named Judy. She even had a pet rabbit.
She attended Pierson from kindergarten through high school, graduating in the class of ’65, the largest class at Pierson at that time. She kept in touch with many of her classmates who remained her best friends and she was involved in planning numerous reunions.
After high school, she attended Texas Christian University near Dallas. During the summers, she worked at Party Decorators on Jobs Lane in Southampton, which opened up a whole world of the rich and famous, and she had many stories of celebrities that she met.
In 1977, she was asked to go back to work for Party Decorators one last time — to be in charge of decorating the ballroom at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., for the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter. After her work was done, the attended the ball with her husband.
Following college, she earned her masters in education at Syracuse University, the school her father had graduated from. There, she rekindled a friendship with John Parker, who she had known from Sag Harbor, and who was attending Syracuse Law School. They were married in 1972 in Skaneateles, New York, in a small ceremony with friends.
She taught in the Cleveland and Skaneateles school districts from 1972 until 1979, when her first child, Brian Yardley Parker was born on March 17. For the next decade, her priority was taking care of Brian and Bradley Shaw Parker, born July 17, 1982, as well as the family cats and dogs, while continuing her work in politics and the community. The family spent as much of their summer vacations as possible in Sag Harbor, including a lot of time with her boys playing at Sagg Main Beach, where their uncle was one of the lifeguards. In the 1990s, she became a real estate agent in Syracuse and sold houses for several years.
For more than 40 years, she was active in community organizations and the Democratic Party in Syracuse. She was a member of the 19th Ward Committee, served as its vice chair, and worked for the County Committee. She campaigned for and with numerous candidates for local and statewide offices. In 1998, she was honored for her work by being chosen as City Democrat of the Year. That same year, she worked for State Assemblyman Bill Magnorelli in his Syracuse office. In 1999, she became Deputy Syracuse City Clerk, where she was also the clerk of the Common Council, and continued there for 15 years full-time and another five years part-time, a job that she enjoyed and which put her in the center of governmental activity in the city.
In 1994, she and her husband fulfilled a lifelong dream by building their own house in Sag Harbor, on the water in front of the house where she grew up, and only a few yards from where they met. For many years, they split time between Syracuse and Sag Harbor, and it was at the house on the beach where the family got together for all holidays and vacations. She loved giving parties there on the deck overlooking the bay with family and friends. They went on numerous small boat trips, which ranged from the Shinnicock Canal to Montauk Point and over to Mystic, Connecticut, usually in their Boston Whaler. They spent most summer evenings watching the sunset from their deck — usually with a glass of wine.
The last sunset was on July 21, two days after they received the great news that they had a grandson, Charles Raj Parker, born July 19 in Charleston, South Carolina. Although she never saw little Charlie in person, she enjoyed several FaceTime calls with him and saw many photos.
The first week of August they were planning to return to Sag Harbor, but instead ended up in Crouse Hospital in Syracuse, the same hospital where her sons had been born. Her sixth floor room, where the family gathered, overlooked the area where she and her husband had gone to graduate schools at Syracuse University. She died peacefully in her sleep with him at her side. They had been together for over 54 years.
She is survived by her husband, John Parker of Sag Harbor and Syracuse; her son Brian Y. Parker and his wife Meghan S. Parker, of Albany; her son Bradley S. Parker and his wife Shamila R. Parker and grandson, Charles R. Parker, of Charleston, South Carolina.
Services will be held on September 6 at noon at Yardley & Pino Funeral Home in Sag Harbor.
Staff Writer on Aug 25, 2025