She was elevated to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1949 Birthday honours "for public services", having previously been awarded the OBE, and was advanced to be a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in 1957. Her promotion to the Cabinet at the age of 67 under Viscount Brookeborough was part of his reforming premiership; his predecessor having been criticised for appointing elderly members to Cabinet. She was the first woman to serve in the Northern Ireland Cabinet. Outside of parliamentary activities Dame Dehra was a long-serving local councillor on Magherafelt rural district council, president of both the "Northern Ireland Physical Training Association" and the "Girls' Training Corps", and chairman of the "Ancient Monuments Advisory Committee". In 1944 Parker was appointed senior vice-chairman of the "Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts" (CEMA NI), and in 1949 she succeeded Sir David Lindsay Keir as President for CEMA, a position she held until 1960. She died at her home, Shanemullagh House, Castledawson, County Londonderry, on 28 November 1963, at age 81. She was interred two days later in the grounds of Christ Church, Castledawson.