Douglas Wilson Walker

Douglas Wilson Walker, software entrepreneur, committed philanthropist, passionate outdoorsman, lifelong scholar, and South Carolina native, passed away December 31, 2015 on Granite Mountain in Washington. He was 65. A devoted husband, father, brother, and uncle, Doug was born in Greenville, South Carolina on August 17, 1950, the middle son of the late George Herman Walker, Jr. and Elizabeth Wilson Walker. In his youth, he spent entire summers climbing, camping, and fishing at his family's cabin in the mountains of upstate South Carolina. At age 14, Doug became a U.S. Senate page for Senator Strom Thurmond, attending school in the attic of the Library of Congress just as President Johnson was launching his Great Society initiatives to eliminate poverty and racial injustice. A Wade Hampton High School alumnus, he went on to study mathematics at Vanderbilt University, where he met Maggie Kramer and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1972. The couple married soon after, and together they packed their car and headed to Seattle, lured by the mountains and wide open spaces of the Pacific Northwest.

After graduate studies in Mathematics at the University of Washington, Doug began working in the computer industry, and in January of 1981, he co-founded an integration software company called WRQ (Walker, Richter & Quinn). Serving Fortune 500 companies with customers in 51 countries, WRQ provided a bridge between personal computers and mainframes, helping companies form and integrate computer systems for the first time. Doug served as chairman and chief executive officer of WRQ until retiring and selling his interest in 2004. While at WRQ and in the years since, he commuted year-round to his office on his bike some 20 miles round-trip.

A humble leader and creative problem-solver, Doug was also known for dedicating his time, resources, and boundless energy to numerous charitable, environmental, educational, and community organizations. Doug was the current president of the American Alpine Club, the immediate past chair of the Governing Council of The Wilderness Society, and the former director and chairman of REI from 2005 to 2008. He was also a former chairman of the board of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and served on the boards of the Seattle Parks Foundation, Green Diamond Resource Company, Conservation Lands Foundation, Forterra, Civil War Trust, UW College of the Environment, Outdoor Alliance, William D. Ruckelshaus Center, Institute for Systems Biology, The Nature Conservancy of Washington, and The Sierra Club Foundation, among others. In addition, with Maggie he co-founded Social Venture Partners, which helps individuals amplify their giving, fund and strengthen nonprofits, and equip communities to tackle social challenges.

Throughout his life, Doug embraced adventure and bore an insatiable passion for introducing his family and others to the great outdoors. An avid climber since his college days, Doug honed his mountaineering skills in the North Cascade Mountains of Washington, his favorite place, and climbed constantly throughout North America, as well as in Europe, Africa, New Zealand, and Nepal, often with his favorite climbing companion, daughter Kina. His contagious enthusiasm for climbing, as well as hiking, snowshoeing, biking, and kayaking, made him deeply committed to preserving wilderness and other natural places and making public lands more accessible for people from all walks of life. Most notably, Doug worked tirelessly to expand opportunities to get young people outdoors, advocating for policies that ensure outdoor recreation access and helping found programs at the Seattle YMCA that take thousands of youths from various backgrounds and communities climbing, river rafting, and hiking. He believed wholeheartedly that connecting the next generation of Americans to nature was critical to the nation's long-term preservation and conservation efforts.

Beyond his dedication to conservation and outdoor recreation issues, Doug was treasured as a supportive friend and mentor to many. He will be remembered for his generosity, vision, strength, sense of humor, and especially his love for his family. He preferred hiking pants and T-shirts to suits and, when not on a bike, a rope, or a trail, he drove a Subaru Outback for most of his adult life. He could not resist pestering new and old acquaintances alike with mind-boggling riddles, math brain-teasers, and trivia on the Civil War and Shakespeare.

Doug is preceded in death by his parents, and is survived by his wife of 43 years, Maggie Walker, and his daughter, Kina Walker. Also surviving are his brothers, Herman Walker (Cary) and John Walker (Patty) all of Travelers Rest, SC; his brothers-in-law, Mark Kramer (Kim) of Woodinville, WA and Peter Kramer (Karen) of Fanwood, VA; his sisters-in-law, Jane Kramer (Bill Talbert) of Piedmont, SC and Judy Kramer (Peter Wallace) of Summerville, SC; as well as many nieces and nephews.