Doriane Parker; Past Sun Valley Chamber Leader

Doriane Lee Parker, a community activist and past president of the Sun Valley Area Chamber of Commerce, has died. She was 61.

Parker, who had battled cancer for some time, never regained consciousness after slipping into a coma on Labor Day. She died Sunday of pneumonia at County/USC Medical Center, said Doris Jacobs, executive director of the Sun Valley Area Chamber of Commerce.

A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Parker, who traced ancestry to the Mayflower, moved to Los Angeles after high school graduation. In 1979, she drew on her newspaper, secretarial and bank experience to open Doriane Lee & Co., which later became Ideas Printed Inc., a Sun Valley-based commercial printing company that received an Outstanding Small Business Award in 1995 from then-Assemblyman Richard Katz.

In 1990, Parker joined the Sun Valley Area Chamber of Commerce and became active with the government affairs and newsletter/publication committees. She was elected president in 1994 and 1995.

In addition to various community projects, such as refurbishing Fernangeles Elementary School, Parker’s community spirit--as well as her patriotism--showed up in her frequent, often acerbic, letters to the editors of local newspapers, including The Times.

“When she believed in a project, she backed it to the hilt,” said Ron Hall, a friend and fellow chamber member. “She was a diplomat and she could negotiate . . . an all around good guy and we’re gonna miss her.

Parker is survived by two daughters, Catherine Pellegrino Cendroski of Van Nuys and Barbara Pellegrino of Northern California.

Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. today at the Church of the Hills, Forest Lawn Cemetery, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles. A reception will follow from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Sun Valley Area Chamber of Commerce Community Room, 8128 Sunland Blvd.