FOLEY, Ala. — Longtime Foley businessman Samuel Francis "S.F." Parker Jr. died Thursday, March 24. He was 86.

Visitation begins at 10 a.m. with funeral services at 11 a.m. Monday, March 28 at Foley United Methodist Church. Burial will follow at Pine Rest Memorial Park.

He was born in Atmore, the son of Samuel Francis Parker and Olive Fitzgerald Parker. The family moved to Foley in 1929 and Parker attended Foley Elementary and High School through the 11th grade and graduated from Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon, Tenn., class of 1943.

After serving in thye U.S. Navy during World War II, Parker attended Tulane University in New Orleans, graduating in the class of 1949 with a BBA and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Force Reserve. He entered the practice of public accounting in Mobile for two years with a local firm.

In 1951, he was called to active duty in the Air Force during the Korean War and served at Brookley Air Force Base and the Air Force Auditor General Office in Wiesbaden, Germany and London, England.

In December 1952, he opened an office to practice public accounting in Foley and later, as the firm grew, additional offices were opened in Fairhope and Gulf Shores. He practiced as a CPA for 37 years in Baldwin County.

He served as a member and chairman of the Mobile Chapter of the Alabama Society of CPA’s, as a member and chairman of the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy, and a member of the Alabama Society of Certified Public Accountants. He also served as a member of the University of Alabama Federal Tax Clinic Committee, also serving as its chairman. He served as a member and chairman of the Alabama Securities Commission.

He served as a member and chairman of the Foley Industrial Development Board and the Foley Rotary Club for which he served in several capacities, including president. He was also a past president of the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce.

He was honored as the recipient of the Free Enterprise Person of the Year award in 1976. He was also honored as a Paul Harris Fellow recipient by the Foley Rotary Club in 1990. He was named the Volunteer Industrial Developer of the Year for 1985 for the State of Alabama. He was a member of the Foley United Methodist Church for which he served in many capacities over the years.

He served on the Board of Directors of Baldwin Mutual Insurance Company Inc., the Utilities Board of the City of Foley (Riviera Utilities), Baldwin County Mental Health, and the South Baldwin Health Foundation.

Survivors include his loving wife of almost 60 years, Kathleen Parker; two sons, Samuel Lee Parker of Gulfport, Miss., and Richard Whitsett (Kathleen Roy) Parker of Mobile; and twin grandsons, Wilson Knowles Parker and Jonathan O’Neal Parker of Mobile.