DOVER - Ether Floyd Parker, retired real estate broker, died peacefully in her home on Wednesday, March 26, 2014 surrounded by family. Hailing originally from Laurel, Mississippi, she was born in 1923, the fourth of five children born to Elbert Anse and Havie Little Floyd. In her youth, she thrived on books and airplanes; a prized possession was her library card and a favorite activity was to lie down in the rural Mississippi airfields to watch the planes take off and land. Known by anyone who met her as "quite a woman" and "one tough cookie," she made Dover, Delaware her home for over 60 years. She earned her pilot's license in the mid-1950s, flew a single engine Cessna, and claimed she could always count on a little extra help from "the boys in the tower." After divorcing in 1960, she demurred repeated overtures by smitten would-be suitors and enjoyed the rest of her life in fierce independence. Buoyed by an innate work ethic, she began working for Zartman Realty in the 1970s and opened her own agency, Parker First Delaware, in the 1980s. She believed in finery, fast cars, and good cigars. She was a staunch supporter of the Republican Party, women's right to autonomy, and marriage equality, exclaiming that "I hear the gays want to get married. I say why not? If the rest of us have to suffer, so should they!" She never left the house without lipstick and, in her later years, often reminded others that "even an old barn looks better with a fresh coat of paint!" Her two beloved cats Sandy and Picasso preceded her in death. She is survived by her children, Brock Parker, of Pinckney, Michigan; Pamela Fitzpatrick, of Eugene, Oregon; her granddaughter, Courtney Fitzpatrick, PhD, of Durham, North Carolina; her dear friend Rosanne Litzie of Dover, Delaware; and two black cats, both named Tootsie. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts in Ether's memory may be made to the First State Animal Center & SPCA; 32 Shelter Circle, Camden, Delaware, 19934; (fsac-spca.org). Letters of condolences may be sent and guest book signed at www.torbertfuneral.com.