[2][3] Parker served in the U.S. Army in World Wars I and II and rose to the rank of colonel.
[2][3] At the time, Wyoming did not require attorneys to have a law degree in order to be admitted to the state bar.
[2][3] In 1955, Governor Milward Simpson appointed him to the Wyoming Supreme Court to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Chief Justice William Addison Riner (1878–1955).
Parker had been endorsed for the position by the Albany, Carbon, and Sweetwater County Bar Associations.
[3] After Ruth died, Parker, on October 7, 1972, married Sally Weitz (née Sarah Barbara Joyce; 1913–2016).