Celebrating a Life Well-Lived Keith Holland Parker, M.B.E.
1932-2024 MEMORIAL SERVICE
Andre Rodgers Baseball Stadium Lobby
Nassau, New Providence
The Bahamas
Saturday, October 19, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
Hosted By
The Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas
Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations
Friends on behalf of The Parker Family
NASSAU--Renowned Coach Keith Holland Parker, MBE, aged 92, died Friday, Sept. 27 at his home in the Eastern District of Nassau, The Bahamas. “Accolades are pouring in from all over the world. It is wonderful to see the scale of the lives he touched, not just in global track and field but in local community service, friendships and simple kindness,” says Mrs. Sara Parker, his wife of 52 years.
According to Drumeco Archer, President of the BAAA, “Coach Keith Parker was one of the greatest human engineers of our time, shaping a Bahamian people who will never forget that he once was here. He was Bahamazing!”
The Bahamas Government and the BAAA and friends are hosting the Memorial Service for Coach Parker at 7 pm, Sat., Oct. 19 at the original Thomas A. Robinson Track and Field Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre, Oakes Field.
Mike Sands, president of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Assoc. (NACAC), writes, “Today, we are all who we are because of the level of positive influence Coach Parker had in our formative years.”
As Parker’s protege former Olympic Athlete Shonel Ferguson writes, “Coach Parker was an exceptional man who gave his all to this country that he loved passionately and to the sport of track and field which he also loved passionately. He was a coach extraordinaire, not just a man for all seasons, but a man for all time.”
Coach Parker was most recently honoured at the Bahamas Track and Field Alumni Awards ceremony in May, 2024, as part of the Bahamas World Relays 2024. He received the “Golden Jubilee Award for over 50 years of service.”
Keith Parker received the International Association of Athletics’ (IAAF Now World Athletics) highest award in 2015, The Plaque of Merit, given for “meritorious service to the cause of world athletics,” in Beijing, China, one of only 5 persons in the world to have achieved this honour.
He was inducted into both the CAC Track and Field Hall of Fame and The Bahamas Ministry of Sports Hall of Fame, in 2010, and in 2013 received the IAAF’s other highest honour, the Veteran’s Pin. In 2014, Keith was the Chairman of
the Local Organizing Committee for the Inaugural IAAF World Championship Relays in Nassau, at that time the largest sporting event ever held in The Bahamas. He also chaired the event in 2015 and 2017.
In one high school event in his hometown, Morecambe, England, he won the long jump, hurdles, high jump, shot, pole vault and was second in the 400, 200 and 100 meters. He developed those talents to represent England and Great Britain as a national track team member in 1957 and 1958.
He met legendary Thomas A. Robinson in Cardiff, Wales, as they both competed at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games (1958) where Keith was a finalist in long jump and Tommy became a track and field legend.
Tommy also convinced Keith to choose The Bahamas as his next teaching location. So it was that Keith was a Bahamas National Team member in the 1960s, holding the Bahamas Record in Long Jump and Javelin in 1960.
Keith Parker is internationally recognized as a world class track and field coach, serving the Bahamas National Teams at:
Five Olympic Games from 1984 in Los Angeles, USA, to 2008 in Beijing, China, and as High Jumper Trevor Barry’s personal coach in 2012 in London, England; Five IAAF World Championships from 1983 to 2005; Six Pan American Games from 1975 in Mexico to 2007 in Brazil; Five Commonwealth Games from 1978 in Edmonton,
Canada, to 2010 in New Delhi, India, (including the “Magnificent Seven” team which won 5 track and field medals in 1982 in Brisbane including two gold medals and three games records...with only 6 track and field athletes and one boxer); Six Central American and Caribbean Championships/Games (CAC); and CARIFTA Championships on numerous occasions since 1975.
This extraordinary man’s knowledgeable, but low key, commonsense approach to coaching earned him the respect of coaches, athletes and officials over the many decades and all over the world. Typically, he hasn’t added up the number of Olympic Medals his teams have won, but can still remember jump sequences for individual athletes he coached over the more than 60 years he was “Coach Parker.”
Still active well into his 80s as the personal coach for former Commonwealth Gold Medalist Lavern Eve (Javelin) and World Championship Bronze Medalist Trevor Barry (High Jump), he also donated an afternoon or more each week to coaching aspiring young athletes, at Queen’s College.
Through all these years, he also served as a member and former Vice President of the Bahamas Amateur Athletics Association (BAAA, now the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations) assisting in the planning, training and fund raising which made Olympic medal winning teams possible in the past, present and future.
While obtaining his Masters at the University of Florida, Keith served as Asst. Track and Field Coach (1968-69) under the legendary Jimmy Carnes, who also served as an Olympic Coach and headed the USA Track and Field Federation.
Keith was an AAA (UK) Certified Coach in jumps, throws, sprints and hurdles. He was a United States Track and Field Lecturer for college and high school coaches in 1969 and 1983; a featured lecturer for the Athletics Congress (TAC) Partners International Athletics Conference in 1983 in Miami. His clinic on Long Jump starred World Record Holder Bob Beamon as demonstrator. He was CAC Jumps lecturer for Regional Courses in BVI, Curacao and Puerto Rico.
Born Sept 14, 1932 in Morecambe, England, Keith Parker came to the Bahamas in 1959 as a teacher of math, science and physical education at The Government High School, Nassau. He then served the Ministry of Education as a School Inspector from 1963-1985, travelling to all but one of the inhabited Bahamas Islands.
Keith became a citizen of the Bahamas in 1984. Honoured by the Queen in 1978 as a member of the British Empire (MBE) for Service to the Community, he was named the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Citizen Award Winner in 1988.
A member of Rotary for more than 60 years, he served as a director under several presidents. Named a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow in 1989, in 2014 he received the Paul Harris Sapphire Award and the Sir Durward Knowles Humanitarian Award “for skillful dedication in helping Bahamian athletes achieve unprecedented success in local and international sports.”
Inducted into the BAAA Hall of Fame in 1997, he received the International Olympic Committee Diploma in 2001, the BAAA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 and, in 2010, another peak experience, his induction into the CAC Hall of Fame, one of six Bahamians ever to be so honoured. He was one of only three Bahamians to win the IAAF’s then highest honour, the Veteran’s Pin.
Founder and President of P.S. Advertising and Public Relations, he created and for more than 25 years administered, the Mahatma®/Robinhood® Flour National Young Chef Competition, and Kelly’s Bride of the Year programme.
A 1956 graduate of Loughborough College, UK, he received the honourary BSc Degree in 2009. He also holds the University of Nottingham, UK, Certificate in Advanced Education and a Masters Degree in Sports Physiology from The University of Florida.
Married in 1971 to Journalist/Realtor Sara Parker, he is the proud father of Neo-Natal Health Care Professional Bryony Parker Samuel of Chepstow, South Wales; former BASRA Commodore, contractor and insurance professional Richard Parker, and Realtor Chandra Parker, who co-chaired the 2019 Optimist North American Championships held at the Nassau Yacht Club. The Parker children attended Queens College. Sons-in-law are Nick Samuel, Civil Service Manager, UK Ministry of Defense and Alan Loane, CIO, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Limited.
Coach Parker has seven grandchildren: Charlotte Smith, England, Wedding Specialist; Percy Parker, graduate student, Boston, Ma.; Audrey Parker, student, California; Abigail Samuel, Area Manager 1, Amazon, UK Services Limited; Jaxon Parker, Sailing Instructor at Lyford Cay School, Nassau; Claudia Parker, student, California and William Loane, St. Andrews School, Nassau; and one great grandchild Henry Hughes, England.
His hobbies were skiing, squash, darts, piano, travelling and gardening. He remained a member of the Rotary Club of East Nassau, The Horticultural Society of the Bahamas, and The Bahamas National Trust, and has been an avid supporter of the BAAA, and the Nassau Music Society. He was a founding member of the Nassau Operatic Society.
At age 82, he still played squash weekly, at the facility he helped found and built in 1975 on Village Rd., The Village Club, now known as Four Walls Squash and Social Club. He represented The Bahamas and also played internationally in age group championships, where he usually ended in the top four.
• Keith played football for the Florida Gators. (Not the American game, but is an avid fan.)
• He drove in the Original Speed Week here in 1959 ... against Sterling Moss.
• President of Royal Life Saving Society and recipient of the Lord Thurlow Trophy.
• Bahamas Basketball Association Past President.
• Founding member of Nassau Operatic Society (First Accompanist).
• Played piano dinner music at the Arden restaurant, Nassau Court.
• Represented the Bahamas in field hockey, badminton, track and field, darts and squash.
• In Squash--Twice Bahamas Squash Champion, twice Caribbean Veterans Champion, Semifinalist World Vets Championship, Toronto, 1977.
• Played in local Cricket League and Table Tennis League.
• Men’s Doubles Runner-up at the 1st Paradise Tennis Championship with Pancho Gonzales in 1961.
• Captain of the first Bahamas Darts team to win the Caribbean Championship
• Roommates in a house on Delancey St. with: Historian Michael Craton, Architects David White and Mike Burn.
• Among the first international Athletes he coached and competed against were: Prime Minister Perry Christie, Minister BJ Nottage, Dr. Tim Barrett. The athletes helped Keith build the track at THE Government High School
By Rudyard Kipling
When Earth’s last picture is painted and the tubes are twisted and dried, When the oldest colours have faded, and the youngest critic has died, We shall rest, and faith, we shall need it - lie down for an aeon or two, Till the Master of All Good Workmen Shall put us to work anew.
And those that were good shall be happy: they shall sit in a golden chair; They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of comet’s hair. They shall find real saints to draw from - Magdalene, Peter, and Paul; They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be tired at all!
And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall blame; And no one will work for the money, and no one will work for the fame, But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star, Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of Things as They are!
Jazz (including “Ain’t Misbehavin”, Fats Waller)
NATIONAL ANTHEM
“March On, Bahamaland”
ROTARY REMEMBERS
Lindsey Cancino, District Gov. Nominee
TRIBUTE
Mike Sands, NACAC President
FAMILY REFLECTIONS
REMARKS
Acting Minister Keith Bell; Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture
EULOGY
Former Prime Minister The Hon Perry G. Christie, Teammate and Friend
READING BY GRANDCHILDREN
Abigail Samuel, Audrey Parker, Jaxon Parker, Will Loane
VIDEO REMARKS
Prime Minister
The Hon. Philip “Brave”Davis
ATHLETES’ REMEMBRANCES
Trevor Barry, High Jump
Bradley Cooper, Discus
Shonel Ferguson, Long Jump
TRIBUTE
Drumeco Archer, BAAA President
CLOSING SONG –
“You Made Me So Very Happy” By Blood Sweat and Tears
MEDLEY OF BAHAMIAN MUSIC
A father’s love still travels on after he’s gone. A treasure hidden in the hearts of his children.
John Mark Green
~ Thank you for all our wonderful memories and the love you gave us, you led a remarkable life and one we are all so proud of.
You changed the lives of so many people, we are so lucky that you were ours. What an amazing legacy you have left behind and what a wonderful man Henry has to call his Great Grandad.
II don’t know how to properly honour my dad, but I think his persona is best summed up with “Know the rules better than anyone. Make a plan, work out the steps. No matter the odds, everything is possible. Always be fair and honest.”
Dad was my anchor. Knowing he was there brought a quiet steadiness to my life. His corny jokes, endless puns, his humor and sparkle were there to the end. He loved the Bahamas; he always said he came to the right place.
He adored his family. He was dedicated to my mother Sara, they danced together for 52 years. I’m lucky to be his daughter, and that my sons, Jaxon and Will, were a large part of his life. What a great time we had together!
I cannot think of him without a smile. Love you forever Dad, our Poppi.
Love, Chandra
All our love Charlotte, Sam and Henry xx
We are here today to remember the life and legacy my Grandfather leaves behind. To many Keith Holland Parker was known as “Coach Parker” but to My family and I he was known as “Poppi”
I would like to reflect briefly on the person Poppi was. I could stand here for the best part of a day and reminisce about all the stories Poppi told, and for those who knew my Grandfather, you understand how inspirational those stories could and would be.
Over the years I must have heard hundreds of stories about Poppi’s Athletic and Sporting career and the wonderful places around the world he had visited as part of his job. And if the story wasn’t his own it would be another Athletes, Olympians or Team’s tale that he knew well and could discuss as though it was his own.
Alongside his biblical knowledge of sport was his wit, he had a witty comeback for almost any conversation, something that he definitely passed on to everyone in the family! You never knew what little joke he had waiting for the conversation, but knew there would be one and it would leave everyone smiling and laughing.
Poppi, was of course, a very driven person with a highly decorated career to show for it. He was not one to sit still for long, whether it was to go to the Squash club, A local schools athletics programme or to travel the world following his team and in later years visiting loved ones dotted around the States and the UK.
His career would not have been possible without the love and support of my Grandmother, Sara. They had a life together that was truly magnificent. Sure, through the years I’m sure there were challenges they had to work through as all couples do, but no matter the issue, they made the most of their life together and inspired many in the family to do the same.
I wouldn’t say I was the closest in the family with Poppi, especially geographically speaking, or at times the best grandchild, but what I will say is there is no one else in the world I would rather have as a Grandfather.
With love Abigail
Keith H. Parker was my father. He was a great sportsman, father, coach and husband.
Dad loved the “Track”. Whether it was coaching a jumping or throwing event, what inspired him was the people. He was always excited to find someone with a special natural gift, but he was even more excited to meet someone with a desire to do better – with a determination to excel at something even when it was hard.
What is sport about? Perhaps it is the human effort to do something, achieve something, be someone, if only to prove it to oneself.
Many moons ago, dad owned half a share in a small boat and he loved the sea. Dad was good at spearfishing and would take me often from when I was a small boy. As I grew into a teenager he could not dive as deep as me and he missed his shot more often than me. He never minded this as I hated eating fish, and he got more than he ever had before.
As an adult, I would give him all the bad tasting Margate fish I could catch, until I tasted how good his English “Fish n’ Chips” were, so I stopped giving him all after that.
Dad really did a lot for me. When I was very young, for my birthday one year, he built a small fairground in our yard with carnival type games and decorations. So much plywood and two by four’s, wow! I fell in love with building things.
Somehow there were four or five long lengths of thin wood left over, so I decided to screw them together in a way to create an antenna. It was hard to stand it up by myself and I mashed my finger. When it was finally up, I thought it was so high the planes needed to see it in bad weather.
I spoke with dad and convinced him to spend his money and buy me some cheap electrical wire and a small flashlight bulb which I painted red. Reassembling the antenna, I got a small battery and turned it on. I must have dragged dad outside ten different times to see my antenna light; he came out every time. A breeze came along a few days later and blew it down in pieces.
Dad would always do lot’s a things with me. He would let me try all sorts of fun activities. We always had fun, mostly!
He would also “let me” do some things that I did not like, such as help him sand and bondo his old rusty Hilman sedan. Dad never ever seemed to like good cars. Every high summer, I would also sand and paint the 100-milelong wooden lattice fence which ran around our yard. He would tie a beach umbrella to the fence over my head on days it looked like I would die in the sun. Dad taught me to persevere and never give up.
Dad coached me at Squash and Pole Vault for many years. This went very well and I became quite good at both. I took French in QC, Dad coached me at French. This did not go well for either of us.
For everyone that took the time to read my ramblings, I say thank you. Let us remember all our loved ones and cherish the memories they left us.
I have so many loving memories of you, dad. Thank you for everything.
Richard
“My amazing Dad, in his natural habitat.”
“I appreciate everything he has done for me and I love him so much and I will always have him in my heart!!”
-Claudia
“Coach Parker believed in me. His unwavering faith in my potential not only inspired me to push my limits but also instilled a sense of confidence that I carry with me to this day.”
- Trevor Barry
“ To all the family, thanks for your care and attention, with all my love, Poppi Bye all .”
Keith Holland Parker, M.B.E. 1932-2024
The Parker Family offers heartfelt thanks to all those who have poured out gratitude to the late Keith Holland Parker, and for the comforting condolences to the family.
Prime Minister The Hon. Philip “Brave” Davis, KC, MP
Former Prime Minister The Hon. Perry G. Christie
The Government of The Bahamas
Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Mario Bowleg
Acting Ministry of Youth, Sports And Culture, Keith Bell
PS Roselyn Horton, Ministry of Youth, Sports And Culture
Drumeco Archer, President, BAAA
Grafton Iffil, Chairman of the National Sports Authority
Moses Johnson, National Sports Authority
Dr. Richard Van Tooren
Mrs. Chakita Archer, MC
“
- Keith
Shonel Ferguson
Bradley Cooper
Trevor Barry
Addis Huyler, The Original Memory Book
Brian Saunders, Expressions Entertainment Sound Crate
International Garden Club:
Sandy McGwier, Brian Russell, Susan Roberts NuLife Health Care
Stephen Johnson, Kemps Funeral Home
to everyone”
Holland
Parker, M.B.E.
Tel: 394-BOOK (2665)
Mobile: (242) 818-3478
SCAN HERE
