Dad: He owned his own semi-successful heating and air conditioning business for 50 years until his retirement last year.
Mom: Housewife, dad’s secretary, mother - great woman.
What did or do your parents do for a living?
Dad: High School Teacher
Mom: Pharmacist
I get my love of history and politics from my father and my love of science from my mother.
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Boys have a penis. Girls have a vagina.
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Mom: She left when I was young. Before I was born she was a burlesque dancer – which is where my father met her, since at the time he was a jazz musician (trumpet) and had a regular gig at a local burlesque theater. Afterwards (after she got pregnant and took off a few years after I was born) she seemed to spend most of her time either looking for a sugar daddy or making some extra bucks as a starving artist. (She was really good with oil on canvas! She just never tried hard enough to do more than sell her paintings at starving artist sales.)
Dad: After I was born and he needed a more regular gig than music, he became an offset printer, and remained so until his retirement. He still played gigs on the side though.
Dad: researcher (his PhD was in chemical engineering, but I’m not sure what exactly his research consists of; although nowadays he’s stopped doing actual research and instead is on a committee that approves projects for government funding)
Mom: English teacher (indeed, I am my mother’s daughter)
Dad: Electronics technician. Has been working for the last couple decades selling and servicing marine electronics–he wound up buying his own business when the other option was lose his job (his boss decided to quit). Needless to say, he’s still working there.
Ditto
Mom: very busy housewife.
Dad: research chemist specializing in peptides, retired in '97 after 50 years on the job. Lied about his age to enlist in the Navy in '42, used the GI Bill to get a degree from the University of Wisconsin, then got a job with Armour & Company (as in the hot dogs) in Chicago. Dad got his name on a few patents, one of which was so successful for Armour that they practically doubled his salary overnight.
Dad: Doctor, worked for the State Dept. of Health later on.
Mom: SAHM when I was growing up, then when my folks divorced, she ran a liquor store for a while, then eventually became a circulation manager at a library.
My dad was a baker; he started out working in his father’s bakery but my earliest recollection is of him working at the Milford Bakery in Chicago. When that closed he got a job as head baker at an business cafeteria, where he worked until he retired. After retirement, he still worked part time at a bakery.
Mom was a housewife most of her life but later (in her 40s) she got a job as a nursing assistant at the local hospital, most of it in the nursery.
Dad: Surveyor in an underground uranium mine, then for an electric co-op, and finally for an open pit coal mine.
Mom: Receptionist, secretary, and now going into HR.
They always joke that I got my math and science from my dad, and my writing and people skills from my mom. 
Dad: Navy photographer for 20 years, reitred, got his Master’s in Theology, split between hospital chaplain and freelance photography.
Mom: mostly SAHM except for a six year stretch while dad was in school. Sold furniture & electronics, then went to SAHGrandma as my siblings started popping out kids before they were ready to take care of them.
Dad - Construction executive. He built distribution centers, warehouses, department stores and shopping malls. He liked to take us kids to the job sites with him some times, which was great.
Mother - SAHM who on again, off again sold antiques. She had a shop in the basement of one house. It wasn’t unusual to come home to find your bedroom set sold, or have the kitchen table sold out from under the dinner. You learned not to get too attached to stuff, because you never knew how long it would be there. OTOH, I grew up amongst beautiful things. She had 7 kids in six years (one set of twins died), so there was a lot to be done at home.
StG
Mom - Nurse. Stationed in the Philippines (Air Force) mostly until her tour was up in 1970. She worked the ER at one of the hospitals in Central Jersey until 1974 when she took the position of Head Nurse at one of the nicest Nursing Homes in the state. She’s been there for 34 years. Still works there today.
Dad - He’s a credit manager and hops all over the place. He’s worked for Sanyo, Mercury Outboards, Loews Hotels, Parmalat. I’m not even sure where he’s working now. Somewhere in Jersey as a credit manager. He was also in the Air Force (Supply) until 1970 - Stationed in the Philippines with my mom.
Both doctors. They met in med school.
Dad: Family Doctor, with a side of OB/GYN.
Mom: started off as a Pediatrician, before going into a specialisation in Genetics. She’s now a Clinical Pediatric Geneticist (or some other big mouthful).
Once my sis gets her PhD next year, I’ll be the only one in the immediate family not to answer to Dr. Yikes.
Both of my parents: retired CIA
Actually, they both started out as cartographers for the Army Map Service, which became the Defense Mapping Agency - a part of the Department of Defense. Their agency became part of the CIA toward the end of their careers. When my dad started out, he did a lot of cool things, including working on the maps for the moon missions.
Very interesting thread, diggleblop! I’m sure what our parents vocations are/were says a little bit about who WE are.
Dad: 38 years at a Ford stamping plant. From “button pusher” to sheet metal skilled trade. Now he’s retired and a “house husband” - and loving it!
Mom: SAHM -> “lunch lady” -> school’s central office receptionist -> assistant to the assistant superintendent. I am very proud of her!
Dad: Naval officer, and then FAA Flight Service Specialist.
Mom: Aviation secretary.
Dad: Private golf club manager (that’s been about 15 years… he was a hotel manager for several years before that, worked his way up from his first job as a bartender).
Mom: Teacher. Currently grade 1-2 split class, in both languages, but she’s done everything from K-2, either as a French teacher, English (homeroom) teacher, or both! She spent a few years on a resource team to address issues in the school board, and is now hoping to become the French-language resource person for the school board.
I agree, Zipper. This is one of my favourite questions to ask acquaintances.
My dad is a stockbroker. My mom started out as a physiotherapist, but then got into hospital administration. She’s now all important and stuff.
Dad: A UCC Minister. Now semi-retired he works full-time as…a UCC Minister. He’s never been very successful at it since he is unaware that he views each congregation as a pool of people who should be his best friends.
Mom: After going to school to be a UCC Minister, she never had a church. When my parents divorced 35 years ago she worked for the phone company and it’s incarnations till she was about 55 or so, took early retirement and did the same kind of work in the cable industry. When we were kids she used to complain about how she hated her job so that at least I got nervous we’d be homeless because she wasn’t working, but she always jumped through all the hoops her employers put out for her. Now she’s retired, has finally quit smoking, works out, is on anti-depressants and has a pair of cute puppies.
Dad: Electrical engineer (designed military equipment for the Norwegian, German, Nigerian, and Saudi armies)
Mom: SAHM, legal secretary, art museum docent
Both are retired.