Former Palatine veteran plans to continue all his local volunteering
Veteran Jim Parker likes to joke that he has to be protected from himself, because he enjoys volunteering so much that he has a hard time refraining from seeking more opportunities to do so.
The 74-year-old retired lawyer received a 2020 community volunteer award from the Palatine Area Chamber of Commerce for his extensive and enthusiastic involvement in several local nonprofits and service organizations.
Parker served in the U.S. Air Force, as did his father, and was stationed from 1968 to 1969 at the headquarters for the Vietnam War in Saigon. A member of VFW Post 1337 in Mount Prospect, Parker has been a recruiter since 2012 for Honor Flight Chicago, which takes veterans from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War on a daylong visit to veterans memorials in Washington, D.C.
For that, he looks for eligible veterans within local veterans groups, churches and retirement communities to encourage them to participate.
“If I go to McDonald's for a cup of coffee and see them wearing a hat that says Vietnam veteran or World War II veteran, I walk right up to them,” he said. He also helps with the “mail call” effort for Honor Flight Chicago, reaching out to schoolteachers to see if students would write “thank you” letters for the veterans.
He's also an active member of Kiwanis clubs in Palatine and Arlington Heights.
In Palatine, he especially enjoys the club's annual Christmas party, held in conjunction with the Palatine Jaycees, for underprivileged children and their families.
He was a mentor in 2017 when the Arlington Heights club was started, and liked those members so much he never left, he said. In Arlington Heights, he loves to help deliver holiday dinners for local families and put together monthly meals for the homeless. “I enjoy being the head chef — it's one of my favorite jobs.”
Parker also is a board member for Sister Cities Association of Palatine, which he joined in the mid-1990s, and has served on its farmers market committee since its inception.
Steven Gaus, executive director of the Palatine chamber, said Palatine is privileged to have community volunteers like Parker.
“Jim has been a contributor in the community for many, many years, and continues to be a vital part of everything that many of the not-for-profits do in the community,” Gaus said.
For several years, Parker was a volunteer driver for Meals on Wheels and for the food pantry at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington. “Those are two things that I had to reluctantly walk away from, because I just didn't have the time,” he said.
Parker lived in Palatine for nearly 43 years but moved in late March to his fishing cabin in Lodi, Wisconsin.
His wife, Kathy — who he said also loved fishing and out-fished him every time — died in 2007. His friends have encouraged him to start dating, but he said he feels no need. “I met the girls of my dreams, and she loved me.”
Parker said the move to Wisconsin was prompted by a lot of recent changes: His daughter moved out, his dog died and his cat ran away. “I decided to simplify my life,” he said.
But he plans to make the two-hour-and-15-minute drive to Palatine regularly, so he can stay involved in all his volunteer activities, he said.
Not surprisingly, he's already mulling over joining his local Kiwanis club and Honor Flight Madison in Wisconsin, although he thinks he can “hold off” for a few months.
Parker's volunteering started after his wife, on her deathbed, made him promise to stay busy and join the Kiwanis club.
“I did it for the most basic of all American male reasons: My wife told me,” he said, laughing.
Over time, however, Parker came to realize that volunteering is what he was meant to do. “This is what I retired for. This is what I like doing.”
• Do you know of veterans helping other veterans? Share your story at veterans@dailyherald.com.