Parker was born on November 18, 1959 in Portland, Oregon.
He is the son of Donald Edward "Don" Parker (1938–2015) and Joan Arlue Sievers (1939-2019).
The Parkers had moved to Portland in early 1959 from Kalispell, Montana, to find work but after less than a year in Oregon they moved back to Kalispell, their home town.
Parker's great grandfather, originally from Norridgewock, Maine, had moved to the Flathead Valley in 1905 from Parker, Minnesota, to homestead on a farm on the Flathead River, near Demersville, about five miles south of Kalispell and two miles north of Flathead Lake.

Parker's father, who by 1963 was an aspiring country western singer and guitarist, met a woman nearly twice his age in a Kalispell night club and decided to eschew his marital and parental responsibilities by leaving town with her—abandoning his family—and headed for California where he thought he would become a famous musician but instead took construction work building a tunnel.
After moving to Hendersonville, Tennessee, in 1966, Don did have some mild success when he toured with Tommy Cash and later recorded a single as the duet "Don & Carla" with 50 States Records, but long-term success would evade him due largely to an affinity for alcohol.
The 45 record he recorded was not successful, selling only a few hundred copies.
He did, however, succeed as a night club performer and headlined some state fairs in the late 1960s, one such performance being in Missoula, Montana, at the Western Montana Fair, that was rained out.

Daniel's mother, Joan, held out hope that Don would return to Kalispell to help raise his children; he never did.
Also, he never provided any child support or alimony, so in October 1962 she was granted a divorce on the ground of "extreme cruelty".
Daniel and his siblings grew up destitute, having been raised by a single mother and family on welfare who had been abandoned.
Daniel's older brother, Mike, would say in 2015 after the death of their father, "unfortunately, he was only a sperm donor and nothing more".
In the first 20 years of their lives, the Parker children would see their biological father twice, on each occasion for just a few hours.

Parker's mother would remarry three times, first in a short-lived 1967 marriage to Harold Schiele—a Ronan, Montana, carpenter—and followed that unsuccessful union by tying the knot in 1969 with Leo Arbuckle, a logger from Coram, Montana.
Her final marriage came in 1975 to Herbert "Sonny" Strong, a used car salesman—son of the noted golf course architect Herbert B. Strong—who had moved to Kalispell in 1971 from Fort Pierce, Florida.
Strong, who was a hunting enthusiast, taught Daniel the fundamentals of deer and elk hunting, an activity he would continue to enjoy.


In 1975, during school summer vacation, he took a job as an apprentice carpenter building garages for Bill Williams, a Columbia Falls building contractor.
The carpentry work in the summers was steady until Parker graduated from Flathead High School in 1978.
He then took up a position as a carpenter working on the power generating station near the coal strip mining operations in Colstrip, Montana.
He stayed on the job at the power station until 1980 when he returned to Kalispell.
Parker was born on November 18, 1959 in Portland, Oregon. He is the son of Donald Edward "Don" Parker (1938–2015) and Joan Arlue Sievers (1939-2019). The Parkers had moved to Portland in early 1959 from Kalispell, Montana, to find work but after less than a year in Oregon they moved back to Kalispell, their home town. Parker's great grandfather, originally from Norridgewock, Maine, had moved to the Flathead Valley in 1905 from Parker, Minnesota, to homestead on a farm on the Flathead River, near Demersville, about five miles south of Kalispell and two miles north of Flathead Lake.
Parker's father, who by 1963 was an aspiring country western singer and guitarist, met a woman nearly twice his age in a Kalispell night club and decided to eschew his marital and parental responsibilities by leaving town with her—abandoning his family—and headed for California where he thought he would become a famous musician but instead took construction work building a tunnel. After moving to Hendersonville, Tennessee, in 1966, Don did have some mild success when he toured with Tommy Cash and later recorded a single as the duet "Don & Carla" with 50 States Records, but long-term success would evade him due largely to an affinity for alcohol. The 45 record he recorded was not successful, selling only a few hundred copies. He did, however, succeed as a night club performer and headlined some state fairs in the late 1960s, one such performance being in Missoula, Montana, at the Western Montana Fair, that was rained out. 
Daniel's mother, Joan, held out hope that Don would return to Kalispell to help raise his children; he never did. Also, he never provided any child support or alimony, so in October 1962 she was granted a divorce on the ground of "extreme cruelty". Daniel and his siblings grew up destitute, having been raised by a single mother and family on welfare who had been abandoned. Daniel's older brother, Mike, would say in 2015 after the death of their father, "unfortunately, he was only a sperm donor and nothing more". In the first 20 years of their lives, the Parker children would see their biological father twice, on each occasion for just a few hours.
Parker's mother would remarry three times, first in a short-lived 1967 marriage to Harold Schiele—a Ronan, Montana, carpenter—and followed that unsuccessful union by tying the knot in 1969 with Leo Arbuckle, a logger from Coram, Montana. Her final marriage came in 1975 to Herbert "Sonny" Strong, a used car salesman—son of the noted golf course architect Herbert B. Strong—who had moved to Kalispell in 1971 from Fort Pierce, Florida. Strong, who was a hunting enthusiast, taught Daniel the fundamentals of deer and elk hunting, an activity he would continue to enjoy.

In 1975, during school summer vacation, he took a job as an apprentice carpenter building garages for Bill Williams, a Columbia Falls building contractor. The carpentry work in the summers was steady until Parker graduated from Flathead High School in 1978. He then took up a position as a carpenter working on the power generating station near the coal strip mining operations in Colstrip, Montana. He stayed on the job at the power station until 1980 when he returned to Kalispell.
Daniel Parker (artist)