HADLEY — The artist Joseph Parker, known for his kinetic metal sculptures and for his cartoons of customers at the restaurant Chez Sophie, which he founded and ran for many years with his wife, died Sunday of natural causes at his home in this Adirondack village, his family said. He was 92.
Born in Long Island City, in Queens, Parker graduated from the Manhattan School of Aviation Trades and served on an aircraft carrier during World War II. After his discharge, he worked on a Colorado cattle ranch, designed windows for a New York City department store, studied graphic design in Paris on the G.I Bill and, in 1951, opened a New York City commercial-art studio.
While in Paris, Parker met and married the French-born Sophie Leocadie Wilczek, who became the chef of the first incarnation of Chez Sophie, opened in 1969 in a building next to their new home in Hadley. The restaurant was for many years a summer-only destination for fine French cuisine and wine, open for area residents and racing-season visitors in several locations over the decades, including the building that now houses the Children's Museum at Saratoga and a restored silver diner in Malta. While it was there, The New York Times published a story about Chez Sophie on the front page of its dining section under the headline, "Three and a half hours to France, by car."
When Sophie Parker died, in 2001, her son, Paul, became head chef, running it with his wife, Cheryl Clark. Joseph Parker was a regular presence in Malta and, later, when Chez Sophie moved to its final location, in a hotel at Saratoga City Center. Parker, who often wore his silver hair in ponytail, would talk to guests about the food, his art that was on display, the spontaneous cartoon drawings he would draw of them and, when necessary, about the restaurant's ban on hats.
"Joseph was the embodiment of what Sophie brought to the Capital Region," said the chef Mark Graham, who worked at Chez Sophie for about a year, starting in 2007, and is now head chef at The Wine Bar in Saratoga Springs. Graham said his conversations with Joseph Parker echoed those he had with Sophie, focusing on food, family and art.
"Everyone on the staff always enjoyed when he came to the restaurant — he always had positive things to say," said Graham. "Even among new employees, if somebody didn't know the full history, they still could tell right away he was so important to the spirit of the place."
The original Chez Sophie building, in Hadley, is now an art gallery showcasing Parker's work. It also houses a stress-management consultancy and massage studio for Parker's wife, Nancy Griffis, whom he married 13 years ago. He had one-man exhibitions locally and in Washington, and his pieces have been collected by institutions including the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs and The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls. Individual collectors include the racing industry figure and philanthropist Alfred Vanderbilt, Great Escape founder Charles R. Wood and painter Andrew Wyeth.
Parker is survived by his wife; two children, Ellen Parker of New York City and Paul Parker of Glens Falls; three step-daughters, Shari Homeyer DiMeo of Baltimore, MD, Tara Homeyer Sherman and Kimberly Homeyer, both of Plattsburgh and seven grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be sent to Mountain Valley Hospice in Gloversville, NY.
As is the family’s tradition, a celebration of Joseph Parker’s life will be held for family and friends when the foliage begins to turn in the fall.
