Death of tragic father Richard Parke
A father who had been dogged by tragedy over the last three decades, losing two tiny children through illness and a brother who was stabbed to death, has died suddenly from a heart attack at the age of only 44.
A father who had been dogged by tragedy over the last three decades, losing two tiny children through illness and a brother who was stabbed to death, has died suddenly from a heart attack at the age of only 44.
Scooter fan Richard Parke, of Dudley, lost a son at one day old and his daughter at 18-months. In 1987, his older brother Brian, then 23, died and Richard was stabbed.
He died on April 21 in hospital, after a heart attack at his flat in Middlepark Road, Russells Hall.
Brother, Rob, 46, of Bromley, Pensnett, said: "The heartache he had to deal with was massive — to have buried two children and lose your brother is bad enough and then, on top of that, our mother, Margaret, died only three years ago, aged 63. Now we have lost Richard too. It's been hard for the whole family."
Richard, who was divorced eight years ago, leaves five other children, aged 18 to 24.
At least 50 scooters will follow the procession from his family home in Cochrane Road, Holly Hall, Dudley, joined by about 100 relatives and friends on foot, for his funeral tomorrow at 1.30pm.
They will stop in Stourbridge Road to buy a horse racing betting slip in his memory, with any winnings going to Climb, a charity for children living with inherited metabolic diseases. The service is at Gornal Wood Crematorium at 2.50pm.
