Jodi D. Parker

Jodi Garst Parker of Livingston, Montana, passed away from cancer the evening of May 8, 2021, surrounded by her loving family. She was born July 29, 1961, in Ojai, California, to Dee and Del Garst. This July would have marked her 60th birthday. Jodi graduated from Nordhoff High School, received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Idaho State University and her Master of Science in Nursing from Research College of Nursing. She married Dennis Parker in Ventura, California, in 1987. Jodi worked as a registered nurse for nearly 30 years, first at Ventura Community Hospital, and later at EIRMC in Idaho Falls. She was a caring and compassionate nurse who lived her life in service to others. In 2013, she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and had to retire. With her diagnosis, she was given a prognosis of one year to live. Like she always did, Jodi put her best foot forward and continued to paddle through "rough water" as she called it. As the years went by, the water calmed, and she was able to live a full and abundant life. She chose to spend quality time with family and friends, as well as dedicating herself as an advocate for lung cancer awareness. She became an inspiring voice of hope, education, and support to many. She traveled to Washington, D.C., to champion efforts towards lung cancer research, and she reached out to recently diagnosed cancer patients to offer compassionate encouragement. Jodi turned her disease into a way to help others, just as she had done for so many years as a nurse. Jodi's courage and will to fight her disease enabled her to see her grandchildren born, to travel to Paris and Rome with her son Joey, to spend time with her parents at their family cabin in Island Park, Idaho, and to move to Montana with her loving husband to be closer to her family. Jodi is survived by her husband Dennis; parents Dee and Del Garst; brother, Troy (Shari); sons Joey (Carlos), Jim (Carisa), and Bryan (Michael); daughter Kristi (Greg); and grandchildren, Leon, Paloma, Cali, Silas, and Shane. Jodi will be laid to rest in Carpinteria, California, next to her loving parents-in-law, with an intimate family ceremony. Franzen-Davis Funeral Home and Crematory has been entrusted with arrangements.