Florida State honored its longest living letterman Billy Parker during the Wake Forest game on Saturday.
The Clearwater businessman, who will turn 100 on April 18, 2026, lettered in three sports - football, basketball and baseball – in the first years after Florida State College for Women became The Florida State University.
Parker played on the first basketball team (1946-47), was a halfback on the football team (1947) and played on the original baseball team (1948, 1949 and 1950), where he was a third baseman.
Following graduation, Parker became a pillar of support for Florida State Athletics and Seminole Boosters over a lifetime of service, building Florida State into the powerhouse it has become.
“We’re grateful to be able to recognize one of the true founding fathers of FSU Athletics with Billy and his great family coming back to Doak Campbell Stadium,” FSU athletics director Michael Alford said. “Billy’s life journey reflects the historic journey of Seminole Athletics, and we are blessed to have had his faith, passion, dedication and support over the course of our history.”
Always a force for FSU, Parker, his teammate Don Grant, and George Langford were the founders of the Golden Chief Booster program in the 1970s – the original elite level of Seminole Booster donors to FSU Athletics – and was the founder of the endowed scholarship program in the mid 1980s. Parker also became the Seminole Boosters' first Chairman living outside Tallahassee in 1986 and served 15 years on the Booster Board, inspiring consequential growth in the program.
“I had a great time at Florida State and am proud of what it has become,” Parker, now 99 told the Osceola on his drive to Tallahassee with his children.
While Parker’s teammates are no longer living, the still feisty Seminole said he looked forward to seeing the many friends he developed over eight decades of service to athletics and the university.
“Bill’s dynamic personality and Seminole Spirit was embraced by the Tallahassee establishment and led to expansion of Seminole Booster Fund Raising Efforts throughout the State of Florida and US,” said Andy Miller, the Seminole Boosters’ longtime president. “Bill was a driving force in the early days and should be recognized for decades of service and leadership. We would not be where we are today without Bill Parker.”
During his 1990 FSU Hall of Fame induction FSU wrote this about one of FSU’s most-consequential leaders:
Florida State University Athletic Department presents the Moore-Stone Award for Outstanding Service to Florida State Athletics to Billy Parker.
From the time Billy Parker played on Florida State’s first basketball team, he has had an intense love for the university. Parker has been one of the greatest leaders of the Florida State athletic program. He has not only helped implement the Endowed Scholarship Program, the Affinity Marketing Program, and Basketball’s Tip-Off Club, but he was also the first Endowed Scholarship donor. Currently chairman of the Endowed Scholarship Committee, Parker is also co-chairman and a charter member of the Gold Chiefs. A member of the Seminole Boosters Board of Directors for 15 years, Billy Parker was chairman in 1986 and the first chairman to reside outside the Tallahassee area.
Perhaps no other individual has done so much in so many different areas than Clearwater’s Billy Parker. Through his efforts, Seminole athletics have moved from those formative years of the last 1940s to today’s major college giant.”
“Big Bill,” as his family calls him, continues to be a passionate advocate for Florida State Athletics and an inspiration for the generations who follow.
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