Tim Parker, Jr. to be Inducted in ABHOF

Tim Parker, Jr., one of Tuscaloosa's most prominent business and political leaders, will be inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame (ABHOF). He is chairman of Tuscaloosa based Parker Towing Company, an inland waterway towing company and one of the largest barge lines in the southeast.

Parker will be one of six new members inducted into the ABHOF during a ceremony on Nov. 13 at "Haven", an event venue in the Lakeview District of Birmingham. The other new inductees will be Terry C. Anderson of Florence, Fournier J. "Boots" Gale III of Birmingham, Benny M. LaRussa, Jr. of Birmingham, William (Bill) J. Stevenson of Vestavia and Susan N. Story of Gulf Breeze, Florida.

Parker graduated from the University of Alabama in 1966 with a degree in business administration. He was also a player on the Crimson Tide basketball team. The Tuscaloosa High graduate went on to graduate from the Harvard Business School's owner/president management program.

As an UA Army ROTC graduate, military service took Parker to Vietnam where he served as an officer stationed at Cam Ranh Bay.

Before returning to take over the family business Parker worked five years at Lykes Brothers Steamship Company learning the shipping business.

A three-term representative in the Alabama House, the Republican represented Tuscaloosa and West Alabama in District 63 from 1990 until 2002. His political aspirations came naturally as his father, Tim Parker Sr., represented Tuscaloosa in the House from 1970 to 1974. His grandfather, R.G. Parker, was the sheriff of Tuscaloosa County from 1950 to 1954.

Parker said in 2002 that he stepped down as a lawmaker because he believed a politician should have his roots firmly embedded in his home community. That is exactly what he did, continuing to build Parker Towing into a business powerhouse, serving as a chairman of the United Way of Tuscaloosa and the Tuscaloosa County Industrial Development Authority. He was also selected Tuscaloosa Cvitan of the Year in 2019 and was named a UA Distinguished Alumnus in 2016.

Parker has also impacted his community as a Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc advisory board member and as a member of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Inland Waterways Users Board. He is also a past president of the Alabama Chapter of the American Society of Transportation and Logistics and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Council.

Tim Parker, Jr. and his wife, Cathy live in Tuscaloosa and have one son, Tim Parker III, daughter-in-law Megan and four grandchildren.

The Alabama Business Hall of Fame was established in 1973 and is housed on the Tuscaloosa campus at the Culverhouse College of Business. According to its website, the ABHOF, "... honors individuals who have brought lasting fame to the State of Alabama through their business contributions".

Click HERE for the Parker Towing Company website.