Walter Joseph Landry Sr.

Walter J. Landry, 81, passed away on Oct 24 at his home in Arlington, VA. He is survived by his wife Carolyn (née Kruschke) of 49 years; their six children: Celeste of Boulder, Col., John of Providence, R.I., Joseph of Dallas, Catherine of San Jose, Cal., Walter, Jr of Pasadena, Cal., and James of Wellesley, Mass.; ten grandchildren; and his sister Margie Leblanc of Lafayette, La. He was born January 23, 1931, to John and Lelia (née Peltier) Landry in Waggerman, La. He earned a BS in mechanical engineering from Notre Dame, served in Korea (1953-54) as a Marine Corps Lieutenant, and then was a legislative director for Sen. Russell Long (D-La). He earned a law degree from Tulane University and practiced law before joining the Foreign Service in 1962. He served in Paraguay, Spain and on the US delegation to the Organization of American States where his work drafting the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights stimulated a lifelong interest in civil and human rights. Always proud of his Cajun heritage, Walter settled his family in Lafayette, La in 1970 where Walter was a political science professor at USL (now Univ. of Louisiana), completed his PhD in political science from American University, practiced law, was a senior researcher for the 1974 Louisiana Constitutional Convention, ran for political office, chaired the parish Democratic Committee and was active in other civic organizations. Walter relocated back to the DC area in 1990 where he founded a think tank promoting national self-determination for ethnic minorities, co-produced community access television programs, traded on the foreign exchange futures market, and was involved in the NOVA Catholic Community. The visitation will be Sunday, Oct 28 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Murphy Funeral Home, Arlington. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, Oct. 29 at 10:30 a.m. at St Charles Borromeo, Arlington. Interment will be at Quantico National Cemetery, Triangle Va. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to the Arlington County Public Library http://library.arlingtonva.us/ or Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington http://www.ccda.net/.