Parker Daniel Pletcher

Parker Daniel Pletcher passed away the morning of Christmas Eve, December 24, 2021.  He was 23 years old and living in Nampa, Idaho with his fiancée, Alexa Jones.  Parker was born on April 29, 1998, in Houston Texas.  His parents, Michael and Christy Pletcher raised him in Meridian, ID with three siblings, Amy, Tyler, and Rachel.  Parker was quite a prankster and loved to push buttons.  This made for a very entertaining homelife.  There was never a dull moment in the Pletcher household. The family enjoyed camping and vacationing on the Oregon Coast or visiting cousins in Oregon and California.  Parker grew up in the Meridian United Methodist Church and loved going to Sawtooth Camp during the summer.  He was very active in the youth group and was a part of several mission trips, including a mission trip to Belize. 

Parker was a very talented young person.  Some of his talents included art, music, making silly videos, and video gaming.  As a boy, he was a master at inventing things.  He loved hooking things up to his tricycle to “tow” them around.  This included attaching his little sister’s Flintstone’s car to his trike to tow her around the neighborhood.  As he got older, the inventions got bigger and more thrilling.  He made several contraptions to ride down the hill in the backyard.  Through trial and error, he would eventually come upon a design that could go to the bottom of the hill without dumping him off mid-way.  Skateboards, wagons, car seats, sleds, chairs, bikes, bungee cords and anything he could find around the house might be incorporated into a design.   Another invention happened one snowy winter when he attached a snow shovel to the front of his bike to plow the driveway.  He was quite creative.

Parker loved sports growing up.  He played optimist football for 3 years but quit because he “didn’t want to hurt anyone”.  He played basketball in middle school, and the love for the game continued into adulthood.  He joined a gym and would play basketball with his friends there.  He was also into weightlifting and fitness.  

Parker graduated from Mountain View High School in 2016.  At that time, he and his high school girlfriend, Arielle Goodwin were expecting a daughter. Oaklee Jayde was born 5 months after graduation.  Oaklee was the light of his life, and he treasured that little girl.  Even though he and Arielle did not stay together, Parker was glad that his daughter had a wonderful mom.  Oaklee is 5 years old now and looking more like Parker every day. 

Once Parker started working, he tried many different jobs.  His first job was at Marshalls.  After that, he traveled back east with a company selling building materials.  He tried a couple of different jobs in the restaurant business as a dishwasher, and a cook.  Cooking was another of his many talents, and he delighted at trying out new recipes.  He worked as a volunteer at the Sawtooth Methodist Church Camp and would often fix special meals for the staff.  He loved adding hot spices to almost anything he ate, and thankfully he didn’t spice up the whole dish.  Parker spent some time as a caregiver and loved taking care of people.  Parker would help anyone he could, given the chance.  It was just who he was.  His most recent job was really a good fit for him.  He was building sheds for Stor-Mor Sheds in Meridian, ID.  He was excited at all the learning and skills he was gaining.  He loved building those sheds and would send scads of pictures to anyone who would look at them!  He was really proud of the work he was doing, and it was fun for the rest of the family to see him so excited about it. 

Parker had recently decided to return to school.  He was excited to go to college and was looking forward to becoming an EMT.  His ultimate goal was to be firefighter.  As a first responder he could follow his heart and help people.  His biggest motivator was to have his children look up to him.

Parker always had a highly developed sense of justice.  This was part of his whole life.  He was a strong advocate for racial and social justice.

Parker was blessed with several friends who were always supportive of him.  Devonte, Alex, Jess, Eli, Jacque, and many others were very special to him.  These men have been a part of his life for a very long time.  He called them “brothers”.

Although Parker struggled a bit right after high school, he was working hard to become the person he wanted to be.  He was looking forward to a beautiful future with fiancée, Alexa Jones. They had recently moved into an apartment together and were fixing up a nursery for the baby boy they are expecting.  Parker and Alexa were planning to be married once their child was born.  Due April 9, 2022, he will be named Ariyon Parker Pletcher in honor of his father. 

He is survived by his fiancée, Alexa Jones (Nampa, ID); his daughter, Oaklee Jayde Goodwin (Kuna, ID); his parents, Michael and Christy Pletcher (Meridian, ID); siblings, Amy Gajda (Jeff) (Meridian, ID), Tyler Pletcher (Nampa, ID), and Rachel Pletcher (Meridian, ID); Grandparents Ron and Cheryl Byron (Meridian, ID); Rex Pletcher (Meridian, ID); Jim and Kathy Climer (Springfield, ID); and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.

He is preceded in death by Grandmother, Janice Pletcher (November 2019); Uncle Kevin Climer (January 2013), Grandaunt Peggy Heeb (March 2010), and Alan Doty (1999)

Service will be held at 1:00 pm, December 30, 2021 at the Meridian United Methodist Church.  A refreshment reception will follow in the Family Life Center.