Seija Tiheasalo Parker

Seija Parker, a loving, spunky, and devoted, wife, mother, sister, and friend passed away on Sunday, September 22, 2019. She is greatly missed and survived by her four children. Her beloved husband preceded her in death more than three years ago. Seija was born in southwestern Finland to a large family whom she loved very much. She would light up as she told tales of Finnish farm and city life and of riding horses and bicycles for transportation, surviving the rough conditions during and after World War II with her siblings, cousins, and friends, and joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as a teenager after her father made sure she was confirmed a Lutheran. At 19 years old she went to England where she did a variety of jobs from being an au pair to an assistant of Dr. Lady Franco, a pioneer in treating patients with addictions. After a few semesters at the London School of Economics and one in Grenoble, France, she was accepted into the Finnish Foreign Ministry and her first post was Cairo, Egypt. On her first night at the restaurant for diplomats she met a handsome American farm boy turned Agricultural Attaché for the U.S. embassy. They married and had many adventures together traveling around northern and eastern Africa and the Fertile Crescent. Before their first child was born they returned to the Washington, D.C. area where John continued his career as an agronomist and Seija focused on raising their four children and managing their small real estate investments. Seija and John loved to garden and provide beautiful flower arrangements for church and other events when possible. They were each other’s favorite comedians and a wonderful example of a devoted and loving marriage. John and Seija took care of each other through sickness and health and after John died of a rare form of lung cancer it was a great comfort to Seija that they had been sealed for eternity together in the temple before he had become ill. Seija was also very proud of her four children and six grandchildren and enjoyed spending time with them and being involved in their lives. She always had plenty of good advice for them. She has left them a rich legacy of her wisdom, love, humor, pluck, activism, adventure stories, and Christian testimony. She will be greatly missed, but she has promised that although she may not know how the heavenly rules work yet, she is going to do her best to watch over them and help them when she can. Her funeral will be on October 4th 2019 in Oakton, Virginia at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints chapel located at 2719 Hunter Mill Rd, Oakton, VA 22124 at 7:00 PM.

Seija Tiheasalo Parker

April 6, 1941 - September 22, 2019