Anthony "Tony" Parker, county historian and genealogist, community leader and businessman, died Wednesday after suffering a heart attack. He was 73.

Parker served two terms on the Moore County Board of Commissioners, elected first as a Democrat, the second time as a Republican.

His friend and classmate, George W. Little, credits Parker as a major influence in strengthening the Republican Party in Moore County.

However, friends and family remember Parker as a man with a keen interest in the history and heritage of his community and as a public servant and community leader.

In the 1970s, Parker compiled a directory of cemeteries in Moore County and published the initial and definitive volume, "A Guide to Moore County Cemeteries."

"Anything he did, he did well," Little said. "He was a great guy, and we will miss him."

Parker and Little were not in the same class at Southern Pines High School, but Little remembers Parker as an outstanding athlete and a good leader even in those days.

"He was a heck of a high school athlete, but he was also an outstanding citizen," Little said. "He was a conservative and kind of paved the way for conservative government in Moore County. He played an integral part in building the strong Republican Party we know in Moore County today."

But the less politically-minded remember Parker as the "go-to" man when it came to questions about county history and family and community cemeteries. For more than 17 years, he was the county's unofficial local historian. With his base at the Moore County Library in Carthage, he became the definitive authority on local history and was the man to whom hundreds of history buffs and genealogists turned for guidance and assistance.

James Vann Comer, a fellow historian and genealogist, expressed shock and sadness on learning of the death.

"Most folks know him as the man who compiled the volume on Moore County cemeteries in the 1970s, but his vast knowledge of upper Moore County will be a great loss to genealogists and local historians," Comer said in an e-mail message.

Parker's son, John Dempsey Parker, who now lives in Raleigh, remembers his father as a storyteller and a man with "a fighter's spirit" who was a joy to his three grandchildren.

"He was big-hearted, spirited, warm and dependable to his family and friends," John Parker said. "He had a loud growl and a big laugh."

Parker was something of a political maverick, and his son said this is undoubtedly a major reason he lost his one foray into state legislative politics. He very likely lost his campaign for a seat in the state legislature because he refused to toe any particular political line and was determined instead to vote the direction of his conscience and his beliefs based on the people he would have represented, according to his son.

Born in 1937, Parker was the son of Dempsey Elwood Parker, a groundskeeper at the Pinehurst golf courses, and Pauline Moore, a practical nurse. Both parents had deep roots in Moore County.

In high school, he was All-State in football, playing center and end for Southern Pines High. He earned a football scholarship to Guilford College, which he attended for two years.

For 25 years, Parker owned and managed Parker Hardware & Supply Co. on Pennsylvania Avenue in Southern Pines, where part of The Pilot newspaper complex is now located. He also operated Parker Real Estate & Appraisal Co. and more recently Tee Pee Collectibles in Cameron. In his earlier adulthood, he worked as a real estate appraiser, a job that took him across North Carolina from the mountains to the coast.

After his sale of the hardware business, Parker went to work with the Moore County Library System, where his service was concentrated on research and local history.

In addition to his interest in local history and genealogy, his hobbies included collecting coins, knives and firearms. He was a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and Sons of the Revolution.

Parker was a Democrat when he was elected to the Moore County Board of Commissioners in 1976. However, he found himself at odds with his party's views on many issues and switched his registration to Republican a couple of years later. He won easy re-election in 1980, this time as a Republican.

In Southern Pines, he served seven years on the Zoning Adjustment and Building Code Board, including one year as chairman.

Parker served eight years in the Army National Guard, where he achieved the rank of sergeant E-6.

Parker formerly served on the boards for the Moore County Public Library and the Moore County Department of Social Services. He was a past member of the Jaycees, Rotary Club, Elks and Southern Pines Volunteer Fire Department. He was a member of Community Congregational Church, the Historical Society, Genealogical Society, Wildlife Club and Farmers Market Committee.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Powell Funeral Home in Southern Pines, with burial in Mount Hope Cemetery.

Contact Florence Gilkeson by e-mail at florence@thepilot.com.