R. Brent Parker, 59, of Charleston passed away July 11, 2008, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.Brent was a member of Edgewood Country Club and also a member of Morris Memorial United Methodist Church. He attended Charleston Mountain Mission since 1979, where he sang in the choir.

Brent was owner and funeral director of Cunningham-Parker- Johnson Funeral Home since November 1979.
He was a member and past president of the West Virginia Funeral Directors Association, and was appointed to the West Virginia Board of Funeral Service Examiners, where he served under former Governors Caperton, Underwood and Wise for 15 years, and was president of the board for eight years. He was a member and past president of Preferred Funeral Directors International, a member and past president of Hygeia Facilities Foundation, a member of Kanawha Valley Business Forum, a member and past president of the Westside Neighborhood Association, past president of the Wesley-Hooten Tiskelwah Center, a member of the Westside Main Street Association, a member of Charleston Masonic Lodge 153 AF&AM, and was a member of Charleston Scottish Rite Bodies, York Rite, and Beni Kedem Shrine.

He was a 1966 graduate of Charleston High School, a 1972 graduate of Pfieffer University and a 1974 graduate of the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science.

He was born in Bluefield on October 14, 1948, and was the son of the late J. Harry and Juanita Beggs Parker.

Brent was also a Board Member of Hissom Interdenominational Mission.