Barbara Jones Walker

Barbara Jones Walker, 86, of Fort Smith, AR, departed this life on February 18, 2014. She was born in Fort Smith, AR on October 8, 1927. Barbara attended Saint Scholastica Academy. She married Butch Walker on September 23, 1950. Barbara was a generous volunteer with her time. She volunteered at Saint Edwards Hospital and with the Vietnamese refugees at Fort Chaffee. She was also active in the Arkansas Democratic Party. She was an avid tennis player, loved spending time at Lake Tenkiller, Lake Ouachita, and Hot Springs where she enjoyed going to Oaklawn for the horse races. She also had a great love for books. She was preceded in death by her husband, William R. Walker and her parents, Emma and William Bailey Jones. She is survived by one son, Bill Steve Walker of Fort Smith; one daughter, Jane Klein and husband Henry of Memphis; five grandchildren, William Maxwell Klein, Barbara Alexandra Klein, Betsy Cloninger and husband Robert, Lee Mambourg and husband Tommy, Bill Karsten IV and wife Jenny; two great-grand children Olivia and Will Karsten; four sisters, Clara Jones, Mary Lou Welch, Martha Fields, and Sue Ellis. She will be remembered by her many beloved nieces and nephews. Funeral Mass will be Friday, February 21, 2014 at 10 a.m., at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church with burial to follow at Holy Cross Cemetery, all under the direction of Edwards Funeral Home. Pallbearers will be Maxwell Klein, Bill Karsten IV, Rick Beauchamp, Dudley Flanders, Neil Ed Crow, Rowe Waelder, Doug Smith, and Harry Shipley. The family will greet friends at Edwards Funeral Home Thursday, February 20 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to Fort Smith Public Library Endowment Trust, 3201 Rogers Avenue, Fort Smith, AR 72903, or Immaculate Conception Catholic Church Landscape Fund, 22 North 13th Street, Fort Smith, AR 72901. Additionally, an “overdue” library book fund has been established for years of habitual late fees and never returned books!!!!! Online condolences may be sent to www.edwardsfuneralhome.com.