South Tampa real estate agent Mary Esther Parker spent much of her early adult life moving around as an Air Force wife. After twenty-two moves, including one that landed her in Portugal and prompting her to enter the Portuguese Language School, Mary Esther and her family settled in the Hyde Park neighborhood of South Tampa. When her son left for college, she took the advice of a friend and enrolled in a real estate course in 1988. That same year, Mary Esther joined Smith and Associates where her career has blossomed. Mary Esther holds the coveted Mary Conover Smith Award.
Never one to brag, Mary Esther enjoys a sizeable client base. Working with both buyers and sellers in the South Tampa area, she makes a considerable amount of her transactions in the neighborhoods of, but not limited to: Hyde Park, New Suburb Beautiful, Golfview, Bayshore Beautiful, Bayshore Boulevard, Grey Gables, Parkland Estates and Davis Islands.
Her love of history inspired keeping a record of every house sold, creatively printing the address of each house on a linen jacket. Some addresses appear two, three and four times. Except for collar and cuffs, the jacket is covered with addresses, each representing a fond memory.
Although very devoted to her work, Mary Esther still finds time to be an extremely active member of her community. That involvement spans mayoral appointment positions for City of Tampa boards, founding the Hyde Park Garden club, Hillsborough County Bar Auxiliary President, Cancer Crusade Residential Chairman for Hillsborough County, twice President of Hyde Park Preservation Inc, Children’s Home first Auction Chairman, and many other volunteer organizations that better her beloved community. This volunteer pace, for Mary Esther, was established during the course of their military life. Each duty station included much of the same community projects--within each military base--that are found in a city like Tampa. Mary Esther is the Historian for the HPPI civic organization, having just celebrated a 1914-2014 centennial party for over 400 homes, 150 of these Hyde Park homes were built during a three year period. When she is not helping someone buy or sell a home, or working with one of the organizations she is involved with, Mary Esther can be found making pop corn and watching the Wizard of Oz with her two young granddaughters.
