Naomi S. French Parker

Naomi “Nonie” French Parker passed away peacefully on May 13, 2025. She was 100 years old, and remarkably, up to a couple of months before her passing, she was living independently, driving, gardening, and enjoying life to its fullest. Nonie was always a very kind, giving individual, loved by so many, and will be forever missed.

Naomi was born on June 29, 1924 on her family’s farm near Logan, Kansas. She was the first child of Richard & Hilda Schoeller, and at a young age did daily farm chores and spoke only German. Naomi learned English in public schools, taught her parents English, and skipped 2 grades on her way to college at the age of 16. She earned her degree in accounting at Kansas State, and after graduation, moved to upstate New York where she worked as an accountant for Kodak during WWII. In 1946, she met Alexander M. French who was finishing his PhD at Cornell University. Alex and Nonie fell deeply in love and married in 1947. A year later, they drove across the country to Riverside, CA where Alex accepted a plant pathologist position with the State of California. Nonie was active in many community and charity groups, and she even did some modeling in LA! Nonie and Alex started their family while living in Riverside, where Thomas (Tommy) and Patricia (Patti) were born.

 In 1958 the family moved north to Sacramento, where Alex accepted a managerial promotion in the CA Dept of Agriculture. Nonie enjoyed her life as a loving wife, a caring mother of two, and an excellent homemaker. She was devoted to driving her children to their many extracurricular activities, church work, civic organizations, and helping Alex manage his side job of teaching piano in their home. Nonie also enjoyed years of aerobic exercise classes, Ikebana flower arranging, playing bridge, and baking legendary pies! 

Nonie and Alex enjoyed many years of weekly ballroom dance lessons, their monthly dance club, and attending local theater, symphony and ballet events (her favorite was seeing Patti dance in yearly Nutcracker performances!). Her life included being a part-time proctor for the State Bar exams, decades of playing bridge with her neighbors, and also playing competitive duplicate bridge. She was a loyal sports fan of the Giants, Kings, 49ers, and the Chiefs. Nonie also loved playing slots in Vegas and locally, as she was always very lucky!

Sadly, after 40 years of marriage, Alex passed away in 1987. But lucky in love, Nonie soon met Col. Van Parker in church, and they married 1 year later. Van was a retired wing commander at Mather AFB in Sacramento, after serving as a highly decorated Air Force commander during WWII in Japan and also served as a commander in the Korea and Viet Nam conflicts. Nonie and Van enjoyed a carefree retired life together, including European vacations, cruises, many Air Force events, local and SF productions, lots of family parties, and plenty of fine dining. Nonie was widowed for the 2nd time when Van passed away after 13 years of a wonderful marriage.

Naomi will forever be remembered for her kindness, her always positive attitude, the sparkle in her eyes, and her loving demeanor. She never had a bad word to say about anyone or anything. Nonie dearly loved her family and never held back in sharing her love. In addition to her two children, Thomas French (m. Celine) and Patricia Grimm, she is survived by her younger brother Jerry Schoeller and his wife Ginny of Topeka Kansas; her 4 grandchildren, Todd Grimm (m. Erin), Sara French Pro (m. Will), Dr. Blake French, and Colin Grimm (m. Haley); and her 4 great grandchildren Maggie, Josie, Austin, and Carlie. 

Nonie’s gentle spirit lives on through the many lives she touched during her long life. The Celebration of Life service for Nonie will be held on June 29th at 2 pm at Carmichael Presbyterian Church. All of her friends and family are invited to attend her service on what would have been her 101st birthday! In lieu of flowers, gifts in Nonie’s memory may be given to Carmichael Presbyterian Church.