Services Held for O.C. Rock Singer ‘Cat’ Parker

Catherine Anne (Cat) Parker, a popular Orange County rock ‘n’ roll singer and wife of author T. Jefferson Parker, died Tuesday morning in her Laguna Beach home after a two-year struggle with brain cancer. She was 34.

Parker was lead singer for Cat and the Bytes, which often played at the Sandpiper in Laguna Beach and at Rumplestiltskin’s Restaurant & Nightclub in Newport Beach. She and the band were also employed at Disneyland for 11 years, playing in Tomorrowland Terrace under the name Voyager.

“She was one of those people who never stopped smiling,” recalled Gary Murphy, a Disneyland stage manager. “She had an incredible amount of energy whether it was the first or the last show of the day. She could sing five songs in a row without losing her energy.”

Born in Indianola, Iowa, in 1957, Parker came to California in 1978 to join her brother Tom Bagley’s band, which played in Los Angeles and Orange counties. She married her husband, the author of “Laguna Heat,” “Little Saigon” and “Pacific Beat” three years ago.

In addition to her husband, Parker is survived by three brothers, Tom Bagley of Dana Point, Dave Bagley of New York City and Steve Bagley of Greeley, Colo.; and her parents, Gail and Florence Bagley of Eaton, Colo.

Services were held Friday at Pacific View Memorial Park in Newport Beach.