Phillip Parker:  

Life I enjoyed a great life growing up in Boynton and later a career in Dayton, Ohio. Ours was a humble family with deep Southern roots. I received a very good public school education including putting myself through college. In 1973 I left south Florida and traveled the nation for my college Fraternity; then married my college sweetheart, Donna ( Steeley ), a teacher on July 4, 1974. We have 2 great, successful children , a daughter, Natasha, also a teacher, married ( Mark Nuttbrock ) with three beautiful granddaughters, Chloe, Kennedy and Violet ....and our son Matthew, a wildlife biologist who is also a professional fly fishing guide and runs a local fly-fishing shop. All live locally in the Dayton, Ohio area and were also greeks in college; my son a legacy in Lambda Chi Alpha. I was a former national fraternity staff member and later sat on the Lambda Chi Alpha's national board for 8 years in the early 2000's and remain on their national housing Board and national Scholarship, Nominating/governance Chair and Chaired the new CEO selection committee(s). Our kids enjoy the outdoors like me and even the cars, motorcycles, surfboards, skateboards and the other crazy crap that I seem to have acquired over the years. I lost my older Brother Roland ( Kay Seale ) who some of you knew, in the summer of 2014 who was also a Seacrest graduate ( class of 1966 ). I try to get back home to Florida as often as I can to see my Mom, Roland's family ( Kay....class of 1967 ) my Brother Larry Atchison ( Holley ) and their kids plus hunt, fish and hang out with fellow ‘69 classmate and Fraternity Brother Larry Shramko ( Patrice ‘71 ) and his family. I also serve on the Board of Trustees of the Surfing Florida Museum with Tom Warnke ( class of 1966 ) located in West Palm and actively support the Schoolhouse Children's Museum ( the old Boynton Elementary School ) in Boynton on Ocean Avenue. I've had a great civic and professional career in Dayton and am a very active volunteer in my community. As a result, I've been able to travel all over the U.S. ( all 50 states ), Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Costa Rica, Central America & the Caribbean and Ireland for world-class fishing and hunting and almost two-thirds of the world ( Japan & China, parts of Europe including East Germany a communist block country before the wall came down, Israel the Middle East, Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia & other Balkan countries ) for business and for the U S Air Force and U S Department of Defense. I'm also a bit of a "gear head" and enjoy old motorcycles and muscle cars. I restored a '68 and '69 Triumph 650 Bonneville(s); a world-class '70 Husqvarna 400 Cross; and a rare '70 Dodge R/T 440 magnum rag top ( which won the 2016 Dayton Concours d'Elegance People's Choice Award ) and drive a C-6 Corvette. Both of which get some 1/4 mile time on the track....but still wish I had my old '59 Chevy surf-wagon and my '66 Triumph TR4A. I also have a collection of some fine old surfboards, guitars and a few interesting firearms that fill a "man-cave" garage. Seems the older we get.....the more stuff we collect. But it keeps me active and busy. High School During high school, since I loved the ocean, I was a diehard surfer ( a founding member and vice president of the local Cripple Creek Surf Club ) and lettered as a member of the High School swim team; I was President of our Interact Club ( Rotary affiliate ) for 2 years and vice-president of our sophomore class. I had a lot of great friends in school from both Boynton and Delray and enjoyed my high school experience. My favorite teacher was Johnny Mack Bird ( who passed away a number of years ago ) because he would let me and others like my buddy Joey Neumann skip class on the afternoons the surf was up....then he would come out after school to find us and surf, too. I worked during high school at a local pizza shop in Boynton called Poppa Pizza with my Brother Roland and later at Greene's Pharmacy with Larry Shramko and Tim Greene. College I worked full time and many times at 2 jobs to put myself through college, first at Palm Beach Junior College ( PBJC ) and then onto Florida Atlantic University ( FAU ) where I graduated with a BA degree in Political Science in 1973. I was very active in student government at both schools and was president of my Fraternity chapter ( Lambda Chi Alpha ) and had a great college experience. I put myself through college over the 4 years mostly as a lifeguard on Boynton and later Boca Raton beaches. I remained a competitive or active surfer until 1973 when I graduated and moved north to Indianapolis to work on my Fraternit...Expand for more