Walter Edwin Truax

Born: December 27, 1927

Joined Our Lord: July 17, 2023

Walter is survived by his three children and their two spouses, three grandchildren, one great grandchild and his Cat.

Walter preferred to be called “Walt” by his family and friends, and we three kids called him “Dad”. He was the third Son of Bernard and Myrtle Truax. He was the last survivor of four children: Edward (Ed), Harold and Dorothy (Dot).

Dad graduated High School early so he could join the Army as a Private First Class in the 1st Calvary Division on April 17, 1946. Immediately following Boot Camp, he took a ship from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and viewed, first hand, the devastation rained down on our Naval Fleet by the Japanese as his ship sailed slowly towards the pier. He was then sent to occupied Japan, serving as a Postman, hating the cruise from Pearl Harbor as it was very choppy, making him and many of his fellow soldiers seasick. When his Division was asked if anyone knew how to raise and lower our American Flag, he was the first to step forward and was given the honor of unfolding then raising our American flag each sunrise and lowering our flag each sunset and folding it, with assistance from one of his fellow soldiers. He was Honorably Discharged on April 28, 1947, although his superior tried to convince him to re-enlist, noting on his Discharge Papers that he recommended our Dad for further training.

My Dad and Mom (Rita) knew each other in High School and, when my Dad came back home from the Army, he was just in time for our Mom to invite him to her Prom. From there a romance slowly budded until they married on March 11, 1950. Our Mom loved to say they had all kinds of weather on their special day, sun, rain and sleet, but that didn’t stop them. They Honeymooned in New York City, came home and went to work until one day they were able to build their own home, with some help from Dad’s Father.

Dad’s Family owned a business, Truax Heating Company, where Bernard and his three sons worked together until 1958, when Dad moved us (Mom, Sons Keith and Kirk and Daughter Korine) from Binghamton, New York to Tucson, Arizona.

In 1964, due to lack of work in Arizona, Dad headed to Fontana, California to join his Mother-in-Law, Gertrude Rita Allen, at Kaiser Steel, a steel producing plant. He worked his way up within Kaiser, from the very heart of the steel plant furnace, to his final position in the Metallurgical Lab, where he tested the finished steel and occasionally had to return the steel not up to standards for re-smelting and shaping. Not a very popular job for sure, but he took it seriously.

In 1984, when Kaiser closed its doors, Dad didn’t stop. He found that he liked to paint, so decided to get a Contractors License for Painting and enjoyed painting friends’ and neighbors’ homes until he was 80 years old! He said he finally got tired and needed to retire.

Our Dad will truly be missed, not only by his family, but by friends and neighbors. It’s God’s turn to enjoy his humor and fun-loving ways. We Love You, Dad!