Parker, who was inducted into the E-Club Hall of Fame in 1995, served EMU as a coach and associate athletic director from 1976 until her retirement in 1991.
A pioneer and visionary figure in the world of women's athletics at Eastern Michigan University, Parker was responsible for increasing scholarships for women, moving women's coaching positions from part-time to full-time, and helping add intercollegiate sports offerings.
A native of Smithville, Tenn., Parker graduated from Detroit Eastern High School in 1954, where she excelled in tennis and basketball. She went on to earn her bachelor's degree in physical education from EMU in 1958 and her master's degree from EMU in 1964 and then did post-graduate work at The Ohio State University.
After teaching and coaching on the high school level and at Henry Ford Community College and the University of Michigan, she took the job as EMU's women's tennis coach at a time when women's athletics had recently been moved from the physical education department to the athletic department. Parker was then hired by EMU's acting athletic director Ron Oestrike as the assistant director of athletics, working in that position for a year. In 1976 she officially became the associate athletic director for women's athletics until 1991 when she retired.
Throughout her career, Parker was actively involved in promoting women in athletics through such programs as the Women's Recreation Association and the State of Michigan Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (SMAIAW). Through hard work and the passage of Title IX, the Association of lntercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) became a reality. The AIAW functioned in the equivalent role for college women's programs before eventually merging with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Her guidance and dedication was also instrumental in the success of EMU's Women's Athletic Endowment Fund, which was later renamed the Lucy Parker Women's Athletic Endowment Fund. EMU Athletics previously hosted an annual golf outing for 20 years that was called the Lucy Park Golf Outing. The event ran until 2008 with funds benefitting EMU’s women’s teams.
Parker always worked hard to promote women's athletics and was politically active and a passionate advocate for the passing of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
Parker passed away Sept. 1, 2018, at the age of 82. She is interred in DeKalb County Memorial Gardens in her hometown of Smithville, Tenn.
