TED Parker was an entrepreneur who built a mobile home empire in the 1980s.
In January 2024, the former millionaire died in his home in Calabash, North Carolina.
Born on January 6, 1953, in Robeson County, North Carolina, Teddy 'Ted' Dale Parker, was a well-known businessman.
He established Ted Parker Home Sales in the 1980s and went on to profit millions off selling manufactured homes.
While his parents were tobacco farmers, Parker had always been in the real estate sector.
In 1998, his mobile home business declared bankruptcy and was sold to an affiliate of General Electric.
It was then that he pivoted to developing land and built subdivisions in his home state.
Parker died on January 9, 2024.
According to people close to him, he had already been grappling with various health issues in the years prior to his passing.
Ted Parker left behind his wife, Victoria 'Vickie' Stone Parker.
There is little public information on her.
He is also survived by his two children, Christopher Lynn and Chandra Lee.
Their family used to own a 13,000-square-foot mansion that was famous in Lumberton, but it was later told to Chinese investors when Parker declared bankruptcy.
Many of Ted Parker's family and friends waxed poetic about the late entrepreneur.
One of his former employees said that Parker remained humble despite his wealth.
“He was just a real person. Down to earth,” they told The Robesonian. “He came from nothing and made something, so he understood what it was to not have anything. So he was never above anybody he ever spoke to.”
Another one of his colleagues and longtime friends told the outlet that Parker was well-loved in the community.
“Everybody loved him. He had an infectious personality. He smiled and cut up all the time,” they shared.
“He was a legend. He was just the best. He was good at it. He was the hardest-working man I ever met. Day and night. All the time up until the time he died, he was that way. Even as a sick man, he worked like a dog."
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