By Greg Ellison

(July 1, 2021) Gene Parker, an Ocean City real estate legend and Air Force veteran, was honored by family and friends Monday during a brick-dedication ceremony at the Worcester County Veterans Memorial in Ocean Pines.

Gene Parker, who passed away in December at the age of 81, was born in Selbyville, Delaware, grew up in Bishopville, graduated from Stephen Decatur High School and served a four-year enlistment in the Air Force during the early-1960s. He returned after his service to establish a career in commercial real estate.

Besides being a driving force behind the early wave of condominium and townhouse developments in Ocean City, Parker purchased Frontier Town near Berlin in 1969 and a decade later partnered with Billy Carder to build the former BJs on the Water on 75th Street.

Marty Clarke, who was one of many attendees that formed a tight bond with Parker, partnered with Bobby Jester, another close friend and real estate contemporary, to orchestrate the ceremony in conjunction with the Worcester County Veterans Memorial Foundation.

“He was one of my best friends,” Clarke said.

The duo shared a passion for beautifying Ocean Pines, despite Parker living elsewhere in Worcester.

Photo by Greg Ellison
Ed Moran shares heartfelt memories of close compadre and fellow Air Force veteran Gene Parker with family and friends attending a brick-dedication ceremony in Ocean Pines on Monday at the Worcester County Veterans Memorial.

“He didn’t live here but … was a friend of Ocean Pines,” he said.

Conducting the dedication ceremony was Ed Moran, who first crossed paths with Parker in the mid-1980s.

“I probably met Gene soon after I got here because he was such a mover in this area,” he said.

Moran, who worked with Chase Bank, became acquainted with Parker through real estate transactions but the connection grew personal over the years.

“We became very good friends,” he said. “Like many of us that came here, he became a mentor to me.”

Beyond the professional realm, Moran bonded with Parker through joint service in the USAF.

“He was never prouder of the fact that he was Air Force,” he said. “He would often address me as colonel and himself as, ‘Airman Second [Class] Parker, sir.’”

Moran said Parker characterized his enlisted time as life altering.

“He went in a poor boy from Bishopville, as he often referred to himself, and … he came out as a man,” he said. “He came back here to make a mark, and I think you all agree that he did make his mark.”

Military service also left Parker with psychic wounds after losing a close friend from high school during the Vietnam War.

“When Gene and I used to talk Air Force … he often talked about his good friend, Nutter Wimbrow,” he said.

Moran said USAF Maj. Nutter Jerome Wimbrow III perished in Dec. 1972 after his B-52 Stratofortress, with six crewmembers on board, was shot down near Hanoi.

“Nutter was killed when his plane was hit during that December [1972] bombing of North Vietnam,” he said. “His B-52 went down in flames.”

Moran said Wimbrow’s last words were, “We’re going to be hit,” an instant before taking enemy fire.

“He didn’t make it to the ground alive,” he said. “Gene and I talked about it a lot.”

To some degree, the old friends are now reunited, as just a short distance from Parkers’ memorial brick is a bench dedicated to Wimbrow.

Berlin-based Coastal Community Church Pastor Bryan Pugner, who counted Parker among the faithful, was on hand to offer prayers and blessings.

“I moved to Ocean City 20 years ago as pastor when it was called the OC Worship Center,” he said. “We were a little church meeting in Troy Purnell’s carpet factory.”

Pastor Pugner became aware of Parker’s presence shortly after taking the reins at the church.

“One day someone said, ‘Gene Parker is attending our church,’ and I said, ‘who’s Gene Parker?” he said.

Photo by Greg Ellison
Active-duty Navy Cdr. Joe Parker performs ceremonial placement of Gene Parker’s memorial brick at the Worcester County Veterans Memorial during a ceremony on Monday.

Pugner said he was amazed to learn Parker was considered a “local legend” and a constituent of significance, yet despite these realities proved a humble soul.

“Gene was so unassuming,” he said. “He would come in the back and kind of sit to himself.”

Pugner noted the assorted attendees shared a special connection to Parker and “loved his friendship.”

“We pray that his memory will live in our hearts and our community,” he said.

Clarke said Parker, who was an avowed proponent for planting trees, left another, greener, mark on the Pines.

“All those bald cypress trees that you see around Ocean Pines were donated by Gene,” he said. “He would come over and plant them himself.”

For decades, Parker operated a home-based greenhouse to germinate and raise trees, particularly magnolia and bald cypress, which he planted or donated to beautify Worcester County.

An extended relative, active duty Navy Cdr. Joe Parker was on hand to put the memorial brick in place.

“Gene had a way of making us all feel very special and very close,” Parker said. “If he were here, he’d want us all to get it done and get it done quick.”