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Elsie Marie Jefferson Parker (Elsie J. Parker) left this world on Friday, August 16, 2024 after a long battle with Dementia and a final short battle with Brain Cancer.  She was a beloved daughter, wife, mother, sister, aunt and friend.  She cared for her husband and then her mother who were sick and preceded her in death. Before Dementia took her independence in early 2013 she lived life to the fullest, working a full time job in her younger years and then traveling and enjoying her family in later years before devoting her life to caring for her late father who suffered from Dementia before she did.  She was a force to be reckoned with and her verve for life was immense.  She embraced it fiercely.  She always took the opportunity to help people who were not as fortunate as she was and she would have given the clothes off her back to someone in need if she thought it would help them.  She loved animals immensely and often said that she preferred them over some people. She loved her only child as much as any human can love another and then some. She was strong as an oak and as stubborn as a mule and had an engaging sense of humor and sly wit. She entertained people with her uncensored personality and honesty, basically having “no filter” in her verbal delivery, which endeared her to everyone.  It was indeed “her way or the highway,” which her family fondly remarked about her.

Born May 24, 1937 in Pitt County, North Carolina, Mrs. Parker lived in Washington, North Carolina before moving to Mt Juliet, Tennessee (a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee) in 2004 to be close to her daughter and son-in-law.

She is survived by her only child Vanessa Parker-Davis (Dr. Peter Davis) and her brother Linwood B. Jefferson (wife – Thelma Jefferson) and was preceded in death by her husband Jack C. Parker, Jr., (mother) Bertha H. Jefferson , (father) Millard Allen Jefferson and (sister) Barbara J. Alligood (husband – James Alligood, also deceased).

Visitation will take place at Paul Funeral Home & Crematory, 900 John Small Ave, Washington, North Carolina, 27889 on Friday August 23, 2024 at 11:00am ET followed by a graveside service at 12:30pm ET at Pamlico Memorial Gardens, 161 Avon Ave, Washington, North Carolina, 27889.

A celebration of life will be held on September 24, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee at 3:00pm CT at Bethel Church of the Nazarene, 455 Broadmoor Drive, Nashville, Tennessee 37216.

Flowers may be sent to the Paul Funeral Home for the August 23^rd service and to Bethel Church of the Nazarene for the September 24^th service.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to https://truerescue.org/ (cat rescue) and https://ofsds.org/  (senior dog rescue) both in Mt Juliet, Tennessee, in honor of Mrs. Parker’s love of animals.

Condolences may be addressed to the family online by visiting www.paulfuneralhome.com.

Paul Funeral Home & Crematory of Washington is honored to serve the Parker family.