Man Killed On Feather Sound Drive While Couple On Evening Stroll

CLEARWATER, FL -- Feather Sound residents Robert Kirby Parker, 67, and his wife, Laurie Bain Parker, 55, were out for a leisurely evening stroll when the unthinkable happened.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, as the couple walked down Feather Sound Drive on Monday at 5:02 p.m., a Jeep Patriot lost control while turning onto Vizcaya Drive. The Jeep veered across the oncoming lane and onto the sidewalk where the couple were walking. Robert Kirby Parker died at the scene. Laurie Bain Parker was treated for minor injuries.

Troopers say charges are pending against the driver, Gregory Robert Gleason, 24, of Clearwater for speeding. After striking the couple, the Jeep continued into a ditch and then smashed into a retaining wall. Gleason sustained serious injuries.

Before retiring to Clearwater, Parker served as the president of the Heritage Isles Home Owners Association in New Tampa.

Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera, who represents New Tampa, described him as a "father, husband, friend to many and a good,. gentle man."

"I’ll never forget how we met," said Viera, recalling his first bid for election to the city council in 2016.

Viera said he was sitting in his car, making phone calls and feeling a little down because he didn't seem to be making any headway.

"I was wondering why I was running for office," he said. "Then I get a call from an unknown number and it’s Bob, who introduces himself and identifies himself as an HOA president. He said that he and his board had studied all of the candidates and believed that I was the best one and that he wanted to walk the neighborhood with me. The next day he and I went door to door for about three or four hours in Heritage Isles, talking to voters. We didn’t always agree on the national political issues, but he trusted me and I never forgot that trust."

Viera called Parker's death "beyond tragic" and said accidents such as this happen far too often in Tampa Bay communities.

Image via Parker family

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