Andrew E. Parker, 23, of Bethlehem Township, Pa., formerly of Pohatcong Township, N.J., died Friday, September 6, 2002 in an apartment he shared with his brother, Daniel A. Parker, who was also found dead in their apartment. Their deaths are believed to be a direct result of Andrew's depression that he's battled for two-and-a-half years.

Born November 13, 1978 in Medellin, Colombia, Mr. Parker was 7 years old when he moved to America with his parents, Cortlandt and Esperanza Escobar Parker, Jr. He grew up in Pohatcong Township, attended the Pohatcong Township Elementary School, and was graduated in 1997 from Phillipsburg High School.

Mr. Parker was an Edward Bloustein Scholar and a member of the National Honor Society at Phillipsburg High School, where he was heavily involved in clubs. The first student to win an interscholastic debating championship at Phillipsburg High School, he also played varsity tennis for two years.

Mr. Parker studied political science and economics at George Washington University, Washington, D.C., and eventually focused his studies on international business. Although he was a Republican, he interned in the office of U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., as well as with two Washington-based think tanks. He also captained the college’s rugby team as a sophomore.

In January 2000, Mr. Parker and his father shared a first place award in interpretive writing from the New Jersey Press Association for an article on the constitutionality of curfews they wrote for the Hunterdon Review, a weekly newspaper based in Clinton, N.J., of which his father is editor.

He was preparing to resume college at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., where he had enrolled for the fall semester.

In addition to his parents, he is survived by two brothers, Cortlandt J. and Jeremiah, also of Pohatcong; their paternal grandmother, Nancy Knowles Parker of Boston, Mass., and Portsmouth, R.I.; their maternal grandfather, Luis Horacio Escobar of Medellin, Colombia; their uncle, Stephen W. Parker, and his wife, Elizabeth, of Bernardsville; their aunts, Elizabeth K. Parker and her husband, Mark J. Magyar, of the Millington section of Long Hill Township, and Nancy Parker Wilson and her husband, William, of Boston, Mass.; 12 aunts and uncles in Colombia, and numerous cousins in both the United States and Colombia.

Joint memorial services for Andrew and Daniel will be held 10:00 a.m. Friday in the Phillipsburg Alliance Church, 255 Lincoln St., Phillipsburg. There will be no visitation or calling hours. Their cremated remains will be interred in St. Mary's Cemetery in Portsmouth, R.I. The Noto-Wynkoop Funeral Home, 289 South Main St., Phillipsburg, N.J. is handling the arrangements.