Dr. William L. Walker
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
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Dr. William Leroy Walker, 78, of 269 Grace Village Drive, Winona Lake, died at 10:17 p.m. Dec. 14, 2010, in his residence at Grace Village Retirement Community.
He was born Jan. 4, 1932, in Flagler, Colo., to Roy Fred and Jeanette Teter Walker. On June 27, 1954, he married Donna Jean Troyer, who survives.
He graduated from Kirksville State College (currently Truman University). After receiving his D.O. degree from Kirksville College of Osteopathy and Surgery, Kirksville, Miss., in 1957, he served a one-year internship in Orville, Ohio, at Osteopathic Hospital. He moved to Rittman, Ohio, where he practiced as a family physician and was the team doctor for the athletic teams. He was involved in his church and community through organizations such as the Lions Club and PTO, and in 1972 was chosen Citizen of the Year. From August 1969 to June 1971, he and his family traveled to the Central African Republic where he served as a missionary doctor with the Grace Brethren Church, providing much-needed surgeries and administering health care and training to the African people at the station of Boguila and many bush dispensaries. Two years after returning to Rittman, he decided to become a full-time medical missionary and moved his stateside residence to Winona Lake, where he shared a home with another physician - alternating two-year missionary terms and trading homes so as to supply medical care on the field at all times.
After retiring from missionary work in the early 1990s, he continued his private practice in Warsaw, retiring from practice in 2001. He served as the chief of staff at Kosciusko Community Hospital in the 1990s. He was awarded a Special Person award from many of his medical colleagues. As semi-retired, he served as a physician at Med-Stat. He volunteered on the board at Grace Village Retirement Center and Lakeland Christian Academy and in various capacities in his church. He once sang bass in a traveling men's gospel quartet - "The Brethren Four."
Also surviving are four daughters: Karen (and spouse Carl) Hardcastle, Williamsport, Md.; Linda (and spouse Tom) Edgington, Leesburg; Jan (and spouse Bill) Remington, Warsaw; and Tina Walker, Geneva, Switzerland; a son, Dave (and spouse Denise) Walker, Paw Paw, Mich.; 12 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; two brothers, Dr. Bob (and spouse Connie) Walker, Spokane, Wash., and Eugene Walker, Columbia City; and a sister, Barbara (and spouse Larry) Wilgus, Indio, Calif. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Winona Lake Grace Brethren Church, 1200 Kings Highway, officiated by Pastor Bruce Barlow and the Rev. John Teevan. Burial will be in Oakwood Cemetery, Warsaw.
Calling is from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Redpath-Fruth Funeral Home, 225 Argonne Road, Warsaw.
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Memorials may be made to go toward well drilling to Integrated Community Development International a non-profit, faith based organization working in Central Africa. Checks may be made payable to ICDI, P.O. Box 247, Winona Lake, IN 46590.
Condolences may be sent via www.redpathfruthfuneralhome.com[[In-content Ad]]
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Dr. William Leroy Walker, 78, of 269 Grace Village Drive, Winona Lake, died at 10:17 p.m. Dec. 14, 2010, in his residence at Grace Village Retirement Community.
He was born Jan. 4, 1932, in Flagler, Colo., to Roy Fred and Jeanette Teter Walker. On June 27, 1954, he married Donna Jean Troyer, who survives.
He graduated from Kirksville State College (currently Truman University). After receiving his D.O. degree from Kirksville College of Osteopathy and Surgery, Kirksville, Miss., in 1957, he served a one-year internship in Orville, Ohio, at Osteopathic Hospital. He moved to Rittman, Ohio, where he practiced as a family physician and was the team doctor for the athletic teams. He was involved in his church and community through organizations such as the Lions Club and PTO, and in 1972 was chosen Citizen of the Year. From August 1969 to June 1971, he and his family traveled to the Central African Republic where he served as a missionary doctor with the Grace Brethren Church, providing much-needed surgeries and administering health care and training to the African people at the station of Boguila and many bush dispensaries. Two years after returning to Rittman, he decided to become a full-time medical missionary and moved his stateside residence to Winona Lake, where he shared a home with another physician - alternating two-year missionary terms and trading homes so as to supply medical care on the field at all times.
After retiring from missionary work in the early 1990s, he continued his private practice in Warsaw, retiring from practice in 2001. He served as the chief of staff at Kosciusko Community Hospital in the 1990s. He was awarded a Special Person award from many of his medical colleagues. As semi-retired, he served as a physician at Med-Stat. He volunteered on the board at Grace Village Retirement Center and Lakeland Christian Academy and in various capacities in his church. He once sang bass in a traveling men's gospel quartet - "The Brethren Four."
Also surviving are four daughters: Karen (and spouse Carl) Hardcastle, Williamsport, Md.; Linda (and spouse Tom) Edgington, Leesburg; Jan (and spouse Bill) Remington, Warsaw; and Tina Walker, Geneva, Switzerland; a son, Dave (and spouse Denise) Walker, Paw Paw, Mich.; 12 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; two brothers, Dr. Bob (and spouse Connie) Walker, Spokane, Wash., and Eugene Walker, Columbia City; and a sister, Barbara (and spouse Larry) Wilgus, Indio, Calif. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Winona Lake Grace Brethren Church, 1200 Kings Highway, officiated by Pastor Bruce Barlow and the Rev. John Teevan. Burial will be in Oakwood Cemetery, Warsaw.
Calling is from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Redpath-Fruth Funeral Home, 225 Argonne Road, Warsaw.
*****
Memorials may be made to go toward well drilling to Integrated Community Development International a non-profit, faith based organization working in Central Africa. Checks may be made payable to ICDI, P.O. Box 247, Winona Lake, IN 46590.
Condolences may be sent via www.redpathfruthfuneralhome.com[[In-content Ad]]
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