Gladys "Marlene" (Horton) Parker was born on October 12, 1936 in New Madrid, Missouri, the third of seven children born to B.D. and Cloa Mae Horton.. She passed away peacefully at her home in Bixby, Oklahoma on September 27, 2009, after a 12-year-long, courageous battle with cancer at the age of 72 years, 11 months & 15 days.

She shared her birthday with her mother and her youngest son. She lived in various homes throughout the Boot-heel region of Southeast Missouri before the family moved to Van Buren, MO, in 1951. She spent many summers picking cotton by hand, and was active in school and 4-H. She was a 1955 graduate of Van Buren High School, where she held a perfect attendance record. She moved to Tulsa in the winter of 1955. There, she met her husband James of Broken Arrow in March of 1957. The couple was married three months later on June 15, the same day the Belvedere was buried in downtown Tulsa. To this union was born four children. The couple resided in Tulsa until 1980, when they moved to their farm west of Bixby. In May 1994, Marlene's dream of owning a log cabin home became a reality. She enjoyed making improvements to her home and farm, cooking, cake decorating, gardening and canning, church activities, spending time with friends, and attending family events and reunions. She was a long-time member of First Baptist Church, Tulsa, where she taught in Mission Friends for 25 years. She also volunteered in WMU, the nursery, and church library for many years. She loved her family and was active in her life with her husband, as well as the lives of her two sons, who she stayed home to raise. She threw the Tulsa World and Tulsa Tribune newspapers for 10 plus years, earning money to pay for the family farm. She held several jobs during her life, including working at Skelly Oil Company, Guaranty Abstract, and GMAC. She retired from Warehouse Market home office in 2007, after 10 years of service.

She was preceded in death by her parents; brother Carroll Ray Horton; brother Edward Leon Horton; sister Genola Jane Horton, and her stillborn twin daughters, Nora Faye and Grace Mae Parker.

She is survived by her husband, James; 2 sons; J.O. Parker and his wife Debbie of Montezuma, IA; & Tom Parker and his wife Tonya of Tulsa; 2 sisters; Frances Watts of Westville & Alice Deese of Prairie Grove, AR; 1 brother; J.W. Horton and his wife Lynette of Grove; and many nephews, nieces, cousins and friends.

Memorials may be made in her honor to the Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children in Owasso.