Dear Students and Families,
As the oldest public high school in New York City, we have a very rich history of our graduates going on to do great things. In that history are also great acts of heroism that deserve to be recognized and never forgotten. It is with great humility and honor that I announce our school’s participation in the street naming ceremony for Detective Myron Parker on Saturday, March 20th at 12:00 PM at the intersection of 34th Avenue and 103rd/104th Street in Corona, Queens.
Myron Parker attended our school in the late 1970’s and graduated with the Class of 1979. To say that, in his time at our school he was very active in student organizations and athletics, is an understatement. Among many other clubs and activities, Myron Parker was student body president, captain of our football team, and a member of the principal’s consultative council. He was a very successful student and an outstanding representative of our school. His family has shared with us that, after graduating FHS, he went on to attend college. In the course of his college studies, he was recruited by the New York City Police Department. Detective Parker served our city in the Bronx Narcotics Unit. On August 20 , 1987 Detective Parker was off-duty and traveling in his own car with his brother when he witnessed a traffic accident and stopped to help. He identified himself as a police officer and noticed the driver responsible was drunk. When attempting to remove the keys from the ignition of the drunk driver’s car, the driver speed away from the scene with Detective Parker hanging onto his car. Detective Parker was killed as a result of the actions of this drunk driver.
Detective Parker is a hero. He gave his life so others may be saved from a drunk driver. I have accepted an invitation to speak at Detective Parker’s street naming ceremony. I will do my best to represent our school at his ceremony, but no mortal words are good enough for the sacrifice that Detective Parker made. In honor of Detective Parker we will do something that, to my knowledge, has never been done before at our school. We will retire our first sports jersey number. Myron Parker, Captain of the Flushing High School Football Team, wore number 55. The number “55” will no longer be worn by any member of our football team. With the great help and many thanks to various members of my staff, we have procured and prepared a FHS Football Jersey with “Parker 55” on it to present it to the family at the street naming ceremony. This small gesture on the part of Myron’s school will give his family confirmation that he has touched a whole new generation of the Flushing High School Community and that we are humbled to have him as our graduate.
Detective Myron Parker’s family has given us permission to invite any members of our community wishing to attend the ceremony on Saturday, March 20th at 12:00 PM at the intersection of 34th Avenue and 103rd /104th Street in Corona, Queens. Please note that this is an outdoor event with standing room only organized by the New York City Police Department.
Additionally the following links are dedicated to Detective Parker:
https://www.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/fallen-heroes/1987_0820_BX_Parker.pdf
https://www.odmp.org/officer/10373-detective-myron-parker
Best,
I.Accardi
Ignazio Accardi, Ed.D
Principal
Flushing High School