Much loved father, husband and former Merchant Taylors’ Old Boy, Dennis Parker, passed away in July 2013 aged 87.
Born in Essex, Dennis spent his early childhood living in Crosby and attended Merchant Taylors’ School in the 1930s when his father transferred to Liverpool through work.
Dennis lived in the suburbs in Crosby surrounding the school, the housing in the area had been newly built and was very modern for the era.
A keen rugby fan, he used to play for Merchant Taylors’ School teams, and retained fond memories of living in Crosby, the friendliness of people in the North West and the friends he had at the school.
He remembered visiting the Kop at Liverpool Football Club, and he loved to travel on the Overhead Railway into the centre of Liverpool to see the port at its peak in the 1930s.
A highlight of his time in Liverpool was attending the opening of the Queensway Tunnel in 1934 and walking through the tunnel before it opened as a VIP guest of his father who worked for the company that supplied the paint for the construction.
Dennis’s family moved back to London before the war, he finished his education in Surrey, and after national service in the RAF he qualified as a chartered accountant and had a successful career in finance, retiring in 1990.
He never forgot his time at Merchant Taylors’ and unfortunately missed the opportunity to re-visit later in life.
My father is survived by his widow Gloria and by his son, son Kenneth and daughter Clare.
Whilst on board I had to opportunity to complete several interesting activities; from firefighting, working with the Officer of the Watch to complete early morning bridge “watches” as well as driving the ship and travelling to the Isle of Man on a Royal Marines landing craft – just to name a few!
