Walter C. Duemer

Walter C. Duemer, passed away on Saturday, the 14th of October, in Houston. He was born the 8th of July 1931 in Hamilton, Ohio as second child to Hilda (Soehner) and Walter A. Duemer, now both deceased. Walt’s only sibling, Louis, passed away in 2004. Walt graduated from Hamilton High School in 1949 where he was Class President for three years and Vice-President for one. He played left end on the HHS Big Blue state champion football team, and was awarded both an athletic and an academic scholarships by Ohio University. He was President of the college’s sophomore class, President of Sigma Chi, and a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa honorary leadership society. He was the starting left end on the Mid American Conference’s Bobcat football team. Walt married Joan Dickinson in 1952. While at Ohio U, he completed ROTC during the Korean War as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and graduated in 1953 with a degree in Business Administration. Walt and Joan moved to Cleveland where he worked for six months for Ohio Bell Telephone Co. while awaiting his active duty call into the Air Force near St. Louis; then to Wiesbaden, Germany.

Early in 1954, Walt left for Germany while Joan and baby daughter, Laura, remained until December when they joined Walt in “Requisitioned Housing” in Hofheinz, a suburb of Weisbaden; U.S. Air Force Hq for Europe, North Africa, and the near east. Their second daughter, Diana, was born in 1956, just after the creation of the new country of West Germany from the U.S., British, and French occupied zones of Germany; the Russian zone became East Germany.

After service, the family of four returned to Cleveland in 1956, and Walt rejoined Ohio Bell. In 1959, Walt joined Connecticut General Life Insurance Company as a brokerage consultant. He was soon transferred to Philadelphia as assistant manager and in 1963, Walt went to Houston to open a new office as Manager. With him, he took his 29 year old bride and five kids under the age of ten. They joined First Presbyterian Church and sat on the front row, right below Jack Lancaster’s pulpit. Over the ensuing years, Jack would marry all five kids.

Walt became President of the Houston chapter of the Chartered Life Underwriters Association (CLU); he then joined Tennessee Life, a subsidiary of Tenneco, Inc., where he advanced to President. In 1979, Tenneco acquired Philadelphia Life, into which Tennessee Life was merged, and Walt became Executive Vice President. After 18 years in Houston, (pleasantly interrupted by Tenneco sending him to Harvard Business School in 1980 where he graduated from the Advanced Management Program), Walt relocated to Greenville, S.C. as President of Liberty Life Insurance Company. In 1982, he moved to Los Angeles as an owner and President of Exceptional Producers Group; which was later merged into New York-based First Financial Resources, at the time the largest distributor of life insurance and annuity products in the industry. As President of FFR, Walt consolidated and relocated the Manhattan and Los Angeles offices to Harrisburg, Pa. in 1992. While in Harrisburg, Walt hired his replacement President, and retired as Chairman-Emeritus to return to Houston in 2002 where 4 of his 5 kids live and where he was near the Texas Medical Center.

Walt returned to his volunteer work through First Presbyterian Church, The Star of Hope, and The WorkFaith Connection. Walt is survived by Joan, his wife of 66 years, his 4 daughters, Laura (Skip Cornelius), Diana (John Nabors), Barbara (Bob Betancourt), Kristina (Steve Campodonico), his son, Karl (Sherri McSpadden), 12 wonderful and successful grandchildren, six and a half beautiful great grandchildren and many friends.

A Memorial service is to be conducted at eleven o'clock in the morning on Monday, the 23rd of October, in the sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church, 5300 Main Street in Houston, where Rev. Dr. Bill Heston, Senior Associate Pastor and Rev. Dr. Jim Birchfield, Senior Pastor, is to officiate. Immediately following, friends are invited to greet the family during a reception in the Fellowship hall.

In lieu of customary remembrances, memorial contributions in Walt's memory may be directed to First Presbyterian Church, 5300 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77004, or to the Brookwood Community, 1752 FM 1489, Brookshire, Texas 77423, or to the WorkFaith Connection, Main Street Ministries, 5100 Travis Street, Houston, Texas 77002.