Rev White Parker (1887-1956) - Find a Grave Memorial

Rev White Parker

Birth

1887

Death

1956 (aged 68–69)

Burial

Highland Cemetery

Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma, USA Add to Map

Plot

Indian Section

Memorial ID

View Source

Suggested edit: Comanche National Museum and Cultural Center

Born in 1887, the Reverend White Parker was one of the children of noted Comanche Chief Quanah Parker.

Earlier in his life, White worked for the Reverend J. L. Read who was in charge of the Comanche Dutch Reformed Church near Lawton, Oklahoma. As a young man, he began his ministerial responsibilities as an interpreter for the missionaries. Eventually, White Parker attended the Cook Theological School in Phoenix, Arizona and soon embarked on a twenty-six year journey as a Methodist Minister. The relationship began with the Methodists when a desired Reformed missionary appointment was not readily available.

From his historical recollection of the Comanche people, White shared the following:

"The plains had always belonged to us, and although we were roamers, that particular part of the country had been ours for generations." and "always the finest of horsemen, theirs were wonderful physiques. Perhaps their nomadic life kept them fit. Camping for a short time where game was plentiful, before the grounds were polluted, they were moving on, following where the buffalo were leading. With a diet suited for their activities, and the few simple remedies known by the medicine man, only the fittest survived. In the olden days we went in clans or bands. Everything was shared in common. The future was left to provide for itself."

White Parker added:
"The Indian was naturally religious. Even before the coming of the white man they had a belief in a Supreme Being, who created all things."
A most impressive picture of the highly respected Comanche Reverend White Parker. On his return trip home in 1956 from the Methodist Indian Pastors' School held at the Oklahoma City University campus in Oklahoma City, his life was sadly taken in an automobile accident east of Chickasha, Oklahoma. At the time, White Parker was the caring pastor at the Mountain Scott Comanche Methodist Church in Paradise Valley and at the Petarsy Methodist Church in Richards Spur, Oklahoma.

Photograph courtesy of Jonathan Holmes. Additional information from the letters of White Parker and the Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee Newsletter.
Contributor: (46853093) • [email protected]

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