Angela Parker, co-founder with her late husband David of the British diving equipment manufacturer AP Diving, has died at the age of 88 following a short illness.
As the ‘AP’ in the company’s name, Angela became known for helping to shape modern underwater breathing and safety equipment for divers worldwide.
Her family pays tribute to a remarkable woman, and a pivotal figure in the British diving industry:
"Born in 1937, Angela was brought up in Rugby, Warwickshire. As a teenager she worked in various retail roles before training as a dental nurse, where she met her future husband, David Parker. The couple married in 1956 and by the mid-1960s had relocated to Coventry with their three young sons - Martin, Chris and Jeff.
During their spare time, the couple took up scuba diving, initially joining the Massey-Ferguson dive club before going on to help found North Warwicks SAC.
Angela became an accomplished diver and a mainstay of the club, training all three of her sons in the ‘family sport’.
In 1971 Angela was one of the first to locate and dive the wreck of Donald Campbell’s Bluebird in Lake Coniston and in 1976 was one of the first to dive HMS Formidable.
Angela and David’s professional involvement in dive kit was prompted by the introduction of the adjustable buoyancy life jacket (ABLJ). At the time, a method of self-rescue involved breathing from the jacket itself, but to do so was complex and difficult. Angela realised that it needed improving. And so, she tasked the engineer David to find a solution and the AP Valve - a simple and automatic breathing valve for ABLJs – was born.
Angela and David founded the company AP Valves in 1969 and other products quickly followed, including a high-pressure direct feed, a balanced low-pressure inflator and the Auto Air (combining the AP Valve with an emergency regulator). The first BUDDY ABLJs arrived 1972 and in 1973 and the couple developed the first buoyancy jackets made from HF welded polyurethane – a technique used on virtually all buoyancy jackets and rebreather counterlungs today.
In 1978, the family moved to Cornwall in pursuit of the ‘good life’. Businesswise, it was a brave move and Angela was very much at the helm, as the couple grew their enterprise throughout the 1980s with the development of the BUDDY Commando, Pacific, Arctic, Sea King, Tekwing and Trident BCDs. David also invented the self-sealing Surface Marker Buoy, a design widely copied and now in worldwide use. In 1987 the company received a British Design Award from the Design Council.
In the mid-1990s, the company went on to develop an electronic closed-circuit rebreather, launching the INSPIRATION in 1997, the world’s first production eCCR.
Angela and David retired from the business in 1993, but Angela remained as Company Secretary and Director (the business was rebranded AP Diving in 2014) until very recently.
In the late 2000s, Angela nursed David through ill-health until his passing from kidney failure in November 2011. Since then, Angela turned her attention to supporting, encouraging and nurturing her family legacy of three sons, 10 grandchildren, and eight greatgrandchildren.
"She stands as a role model to others, fearless in her ambitions and her determination to succeed without sacrificing kindness and humour along the way. She will be remembered with great love and affection and will be sorely missed."
The team at BSAC sends our condolences to the Parker family, and all of Angela's friends and colleagues.
