John Francis Parker

John Francis Parker (May 29, 1907-December 1992) was the last of a long line of part-time mayors of Taunton, Massachusetts. By his efforts the City Council decided to make the position full-time. Parker was elected to the State Senate in 1953, and served for many years as the Minority Leader of the Massachusetts Senate, the post he held when he retired from public life in 1989. He was also a member of the Taunton School Committee.[1]

For other people with the same name, see John Parker (disambiguation).
John Francis Parker
Mayor of
Taunton, Massachusetts[1]
In office
1947[1] – 1954[1]
Preceded byMerrill Aldrich
Succeeded byJoseph C. Chamberlain
Member of the
Massachusetts Senate[1]
1st Bristol District[2]
In office
1953[3] – 1989[1]
Preceded byFrancis J. O'Neill
Succeeded byTheodore J. Alexio, Jr
Chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party
In office
1965–1967
Preceded byFrederic C. Dumaine Jr.
Succeeded byJosiah Spaulding
Minority Leader of the Massachusetts Senate
In office
1967–1989
Preceded byPhilip A. Graham
Succeeded byDavid H. Locke
Personal details
Born
John Francis Parker[2]

May 29, 1907[2]
Dorchester, Massachusetts[3]
DiedDecember 1992[1]
NationalityAmerican
Political partyRepublican
ProfessionNewspaper compositor[2]

Parker desired to succeed Congressman Joseph William Martin Jr. (R-MA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, however Parker refused to oppose the elderly former Speaker in the Republican primary of 1968. Martin was defeated in the primary by Governor’s Councilor Margaret Heckler (R-MA) effectively ending Parker's efforts of attaining higher office.

A middle school within the city is named in honor of his service to the city, and a section of U.S. Route 44 is named in honor of Parker and his wife, Mae, who had no children. The Taunton Municipal Golf Course was changed to the John F. Parker Municipal Golf Course.

Notes
  1. "JOHN F. PARKER, GOP STATE SENATOR FROM TAUNTON FOR 36 YEARS; AT 85", The Boston Globe, Boston, MA, December 22, 1992
  2. Hayden, Irving N.. (1955), 1955-1956 Public officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, MA: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, p. 71.
  3. O'Neill, Edward B. (1986), 1985-1986 Public officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, MA: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, p. 75.

Further reading


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