Joseph Austin Parker

Joseph Austin Parker, 23, died in a hiking accident at Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. Austin was a class of 2008 Lowndes High School graduate and then graduated from Cornell University in December 2012.

He was born on January 6, 1990 in Atlanta, Georgia to Joseph Steven Parker and Debra Dae Parker. He had recently graduated from Cornell University's Dyson School of Business with a degree in Applied Economics and Management as a member of the Class of 2013.

Post-graduation, Austin chose to pursue his passion for the outdoors by living in Gardiner, Montana, the city that borders the entrance to Yellowstone National Park, his favorite place in the world. He loved being alone in nature, savoring God's magnificent creation, and rather than just talking about going to live there, he did what so few of us do – he simply went. His life was short, but his life was full. He left his earthly home doing exactly what he wanted to do. He actually lived his dream.

He leaves his loving memories to be cherished by his parents, Joseph Steven Parker and Debby Parker, brothers, Cole Parker and Jacob Parker, paternal grandparents, Jake and Dorothy Parker, maternal grandparents, Patricia Faircloth and Don Faircloth, uncles and aunts, Rusty and Charlotte Parker, Barry and Karen Bennett, Don and April Faircloth, cousins, Zach Parker, Courtney Fleming, Casey Parker Bacon, Coryn Faircloth, Dalton Faircloth, dear friends, Hunter Colson and Taylor Hutchinson of Valdosta, Aaron Davis of Gardiner, Meredyth Kimm of Virginia and countless more that loved and were loved by Austin.

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, July 23, 2013 from five until eight p. m. at Perimeter Road Baptist Church. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, July 24, 2013 at one p. m. at the church. All friends and family are invited to join us in remembering and celebrating the life Austin lived, the memories that we made and the lifelong impact that Austin had on our lives.

Condolences to the family may be expressed online at www.mclanecares.com.

Carson McLane Funeral Home.


Funeral Home:
Carson McLane Funeral Home
2215 North Patterson Street
Valdosta, GA
US 31602