Mary Madelyn Simpson Parker

passed away on Sunday, May 14, 2017 at Island Health and Rehabilitation on Bainbridge Island, Washington. She was born on February 20, 1942 and was 74 years of age.Mary worked as a commercial insurance broker. She also coached softball teams through out her life.Mary is survived by her husband Andy Parker of Bainbridge Island, WA and daughter Erin Parker of Seattle, WA. Her family was from Pennsylvania by way of Salt Lake City. She was the daughter of a championship winning college basketball coach and Trinity A bomb blast observer.She loved sports. She was a Championship tennis player in high school. She played for an adult city women's softball team in Manhattan Kansas when she was 10 years old sharing a coke in the bar with team mates after the game. She coached and managed U16 and U18 women's softball teams which travelled to championships in California, Utah, and Florida.She loved the Mariners...most of the time and Ichiro until he became a Yankee. She was a strong believer in civil rights issues and liberal politics. She ran away to Alabama as a teenager to march on Selma with Martin Luther King. She actively promoted Jerry Brown for president. She was fiercely loyal to her family and had our backs always. She was a literate, articulate, intelligent companion. She excelled as a commercial Insurance agent in a predominantly male field, sacrificing a career in the law to raise a family.She was a strict coach with daughter Erin spending countless hours catching pitches for her on a five gallon plastic bucket. She loved travel to Europe and missed riding her motorcycle. She could throw a football and had a top shelf hook shot that was an essential skill for a 4'11 basketball player. Memorial contributions can be made to The Southern Poverty Law Center or the ACLU.Private family services will be held. Please sign the online Guest Book for the family.