Correspondents write:
AN ACTIVE and influential participant in various institutions, from the Guides to the General Synod, Diane Parker none the less remained an independent spirit. Her idiosyncratic approach to life was symbolised by the succession of Reliant three-wheelers she owned over the years, a familiar sight to her neighbours in Blackpool. She took great pleasure in humour, which was occasionally at the expense of her choice of motor vehicle, sometimes surreal and often irreverent.
Diane dedicated herself to improving the lives of others, drawing strength from her faith. Her professional career, in which she grew to senior management in the probation service, was just one way for her to make the world a better place. During evenings and weekends, her living room was often a hive of activity as she welcomed guests and made phone calls to juggle her various responsibilities in the Church and the community. Aside from sheer force of will, she was assisted in her endeavours by a keen intellect and an ability to talk on equal terms with anyone, whatever their position or background. She delighted especially in the company of children, and, in recent years, her great-nephews were a source of much joy to her.
Born in Blackpool on 4 August 1936 to Molly and Ben Parker, Diane had a childhood punctuated by family tragedy. In 1940, her brother Alan died aged five, followed later that year by her mother aged 34. After the war, her father remarried, to Alice, who was Molly’s sister. The family moved first to Nottingham, where Diane’s sister Avril was born in 1949, and then to Leicester. After Alice died in 1955, Diane acted as a second mother to Avril. The family shortly returned to Blackpool.
Diane responded to these circumstances in determined and resilient fashion. In 1959, she secured Home Office sponsorship to train as a probation officer, confounding the dismissive opinions of her headmistress. As part of her training, she read social science at Liverpool University, taking the train daily so that she could continue to care for her younger sister at home. Diane enjoyed her studies and retained her intellectual curiosity, voraciously reading books on a range of topics. In retirement, she was able to combine her interests in language and theology by studying New Testament Greek.
In 1968, she became the first female Senior Probation Officer in a men’s prison, HM Prison Kirkham. There, she overhauled the work of the probation team and introduced the practice of engaging with prisoners’ children. In 1979, she was promoted to Assistant Chief Probation Officer.
Diane often described herself as a lapsed atheist, having been baptised at the age of 21. She kept firm in her faith for life and was deeply involved in the Church, becoming a Reader in 1991. Her tireless efforts often extended beyond her parish church of Holy Cross, Blackpool. In the 1990s, she was chaplain at a hospital psychiatric unit and was transformative as Child Protection Adviser for Blackburn diocese, establishing a child-protection system and training. In 1996, she was elected to the General Synod.
Diane led many community projects, such as chairing Fylde House, a mother-and-baby home, and Bay Housing, a charity providing supported housing for 30 young people. Diane was also a committed member of the Labour Party and a friend of her Labour MP. She regarded the Church’s social work — such as a soup kitchen she helped to found at Holy Cross — as essential to its mission.
Diane’s work for the Church and the community were recognised when she was installed as a Lay Canon of Blackburn Cathedral in 2001, an honour she greatly valued.
Diane died on 22 April 2020, aged 83. In her final days, she remained entirely lucid and emphasised how happy she was that she had enjoyed “a lovely life, full of love”. For her, love was the most important thing of all.
Diane is survived by her sister, Avril, her nephew, Alex and her great-nephews, Oliver and Thomas.
