FALMOUTH – Earlier in the day, he had been splitting wood on his Woods Road property.

He came home, sat in his chair, and “he just went to sleep” his daughter, Lois Roy of Falmouth, said.

Eugene Bradford Parker died Saturday in the farmhouse he built for his wife and two daughters.

Mr. Parker, a lifelong resident of Falmouth, was 84 years old.

“He built his homestead from scratch. My dad was a country guy,” his daughter said.

“He had this homestead and he stayed with it. His roots were deep here,” she said. “This became the place that everyone came back to.”

Mr. Parker was born in South Portland. But he grew up on his grandparents’ farm in Falmouth.

He attended Falmouth schools and left high school early to work for his grandfather.

“He worked the farm. Back then it was common,” his daughter said.

Mr. Parker served with the U.S. Army during World War II, but rarely talked about his war experiences.

“He never spoke about it. He was pretty private in that way,” his daughter said. “I do know he was a baker (in the Army) because he talked about baking bread.”

After his grandparents passed away, Mr. Parker kept a piece of their land and built a farm on Woods Road.

He used his faithful team of draft horses, Amos and Andy, to clear logs for his new home.

Over the years, Mr. Parker and his wife, Albertine (Tina) Foster Parker raised horses, as well as a variety of farm animals.

“It was always known as the house with the horses,” his daughter said.

Over time, he upgraded from horses to tractors. He enjoyed mowing the fields around his farm and would invite family members to come over to collect the hay, which they stacked in his barn.

Mr. Parker took a job as a carpenter to support his family.

He sent on to build homes in the Portland area for more than 30 years.

In his senior years, Mr. Parker worked for Maine Cement and Durastone Steps as a form maker. He did that work until about two years ago.

“My father had an amazing work ethic,” Roy said.

Mr. Parker and his wife stayed active in their senior years.

About four years ago, the couple took up four-wheeling as a pastime. Their favorite destination was Coos Canyon in Byron, Maine.

“In fact, they were planning on going four-wheeling the next day” (after he died), his daughter said.

For 25 years, he remained a firm supporter of Falmouth High School’s basketball teams, rarely missing a game.

Mr. Parker became a fan when his other daughter, Ellen Josephs of Falmouth, became the boys’ basketball team manager.

“My parents got hooked on going to the basketball games,” Roy said.

Last season, the Falmouth girls’ basketball team honored the Parkers by inviting them to center court during halftime of a game.

The team presented the Parkers with a bouquet of flowers for being such loyal fans.

Even though their father is gone, the Parker girls don’t plan on going very far from home.

Roy lives just over a mile from her parent’s farm and Josephs is building a home about a mile away from what will now be their mother’s house.

“They’ve been great parents. They are the rock of our family,” Roy said.

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com